Luciane Teixera da Cruz, Brazil

“My mother was only able to finish school after she married and had children,” says Luciane Teixera da Cruz, who grew up in a small town in the southwestern corner of Brazil. “This reference for me was always very strong, so it was always necessary and important for me to invest in education.”

Luciane’s hometown in the interior of Espiritu Santo State had no businesses or public transportation, and little opportunity. So, this daughter of a small store owner and teacher sacrificed everything she knew – her family, her friends, her home – so she could get a university education in the capital.

Her love of education continued throughout her life. Today, she lives in Rio de Janeiro, and works for the Centro de Integração Empresa Escola (CIEE), an organization that provides training, job placements, mentoring and internships for Brazil’s youth. Luciane says she relates to CIEE’s mission to advance youth because she remembered struggling herself to succeed despite the limits in her upbringing.

With a population of about 198 million, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and the sixth largest country in the world. Though the country now has the ninth highest GDP in the world, many Brazilians face extreme poverty: 21 percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day. Women and young people are often the face of those in poverty.

Luciane views youth education and access to employment as critical to advance Brazil’s economy. She says, “In my humble view, I believe that once we give tools for these youth to be able to position themselves better in the work market, they will be people who have new job possibilities and income generation. That will change the economy. They will have access to assets. I hope in a critical manner, they can also be involved to make decisions with the creation of policies for youth.”

Despite her passion and 12 years at CIEE, Luciane felt limited in her capacity to have a greater impact and applied to join CEDPA’s Global Women in Management program in 2008. She says the workshop was an eye-opener, and gave her greater confidence to lead.

After returning to Brazil, Luciane was promoted and now manages a team of 27 trainers, social scientists, business managers, and program staff who are involved with CIEE’s youth programming in the entire state of Rio de Janeiro. She credits the improvements to her professional life in the past two years to CEDPA’s training.

As a result of her promotion, she was able to institute substantial changes. She expanded CIEE’s youth programming and promoted dedicated staff to assume additional management roles. She also says that the CEDPA training has inspired her to reach beyond her comfort level and aspire for more. She joined the Municipal Board of Children and Adolescent Rights and has begun to work on advocacy.

“I am working with about 20 institutions to develop public policies. This is a very positive experience and I have dedicated a lot of time to this,” Luciane stated beaming. “I feel proud of what I am able to do today.”

In the end, it is her work with youth that Luciane has found the most gratifying. She is buoyed by the changes she sees in youth who never envisioned future possibilities after they’ve been through her program. “They go back with another behavior towards life. They go after their ideals. They believe in the idea of transforming,” she explained.

In that way, they are just like Luciane.

Luciane was generously funded to participate in Global Women in Management workshop by the ExxonMobil Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative, which has sponsored over 275 participants since 2005.

(Jan. 2010)