WASHINGTON, DC — On June 24, 2021, Atlas Network announced that Bernardo Vidigal, together with Students For Liberty Brazil, won the 2021 Latin America Think Tank Shark Tank competition for their pitch to educate residents of Brazil’s favelas on their property rights and empower them to create a better future for their families.
The winner of the 2021 Latin America Think Tank Shark Tank competition was announced at the 2021 Latin America Liberty Forum — #ForoLibertad21 — held virtually on June 23–24, 2021.
“In order for Rio de Janeiro to host the World Cup and the Olympics, more than 20,000 families were removed from where they lived. Many found themselves dumped in places dominated by gangs, far from their former neighbors, communities, and jobs. Our project wants to change this reality by training a new generation of young students with the right skills so they can help favela residents legalize their property in Brazil,” said Bernardo Vidigal.
To help favela residents secure their homes, SFL’s team in Brazil will produce a Learn Liberty documentary about favela residents and the issues they face with unprotected property rights, and will engage with 1,500 student activists to organize 70+ screening events in favelas across Brazil. The project was developed by members of Students For Liberty Brazil — Bernardo Vidigal, Learn Liberty managing director, Ivanildo Santos Terceiro, Students For Liberty Brazil’s communications manager, and Nycollas Liberato, Students For Liberty Brazil’s programs director.
“We are so proud of SFL Brazil’s immense diversity of backgrounds, but we want to go further. Our goal is to recruit over 1,500 new volunteers through these events, who will be trained to help any and all inhabitants of a favela and legalize their property, so they defend themselves against those who want to remove their dignity,” mentioned Vidigal in his pitch.
Other 2021 Think Tank Shark Tank contestants in Latin America were Ana Lilia Moreno with the project pitch on energy reform in Mexico, and Fatima Masse with the pitch for a project to encourage formal entrepreneurship for women in Mexico.
Earlier this week, Students For Liberty was also named a winner of the 2021 Europe Liberty Award for SFL’s innovative media campaign to raise awareness about human rights violations in Belarus, and was a finalist of the 2021 Africa Liberty Award for African Liberty writing fellowship program.
Students For Liberty is proud to partner with Atlas Network in advancing freedom and prosperity around the globe. To learn more about our students’ activism around the globe, click on the button below.
Accredited members of the media can arrange interviews with Bernardo Vidigal by contacting Students For Liberty’s Public Relations Manager Julia Kril at [email protected] or by phone at +39 331 146 98 36.
