Lemann Foundation Transforms
Semi-Annual Report | First Half 2020
During these past few months of unprecedented challenges, we have employed a strategy of action-driven and collaboration to help deliver solutions to Brazil and its people
For a fairer, more advanced Brazil, For The Future Now #PeloFuturoAgora
Six months that will go down in history. Around the world, 2020 has wrought challenges unknown to our generation. In a country like Brazil, marked by historical inequalities, the Covid-19 pandemic has further only exacerbated the situation. Without the commitment and action of many, these disparities could become even more extreme and entrenched.
Over the past few months, we have reaffirmed our commitment to public education and leadership development. We moved quickly to become a leading force for direct action as well as to support the initiatives of others. We joined forces with various leaders, organizations, and governments that, like us, understood that this historic moment demanded an unprecedented level of initiative and collaboration.
Amid this remarkable context, we now share a partial results report for the current year. We describe the fruits of the initiatives taken by an exceptional network of people and partner organizations. Working together, these individuals and groups have made a world of difference. Together, we built a critical foundation for the construction of a fairer, more advanced future while fully addressing the challenges of the moment.
We put Brazil on the map for Covid-19 vaccine trials by partnering with the University of Oxford and the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). With this initiative, we reaffirmed our commitment to evidence-based research and the crucial work of scientists, professionals, and leaders at the forefront of finding solutions to end this deadly pandemic.
We have doubled down on our belief that all children have the right to learn. We made a host of adjustments, both big and small, to sustain our ongoing initiatives so future generations can reach their maximum potential and contribute to the creation of a better Brazil. We have also expanded and deepened our support to a vast network of people and organizations, providing them with resources, a development structure, connections, and helping expand their initiatives.
At this moment in time, we remain optimistic but with our feet planted firmly on the ground. We find ourselves with a renewed commitment to our own initiatives and to helping as many others as possible reaffirm their commitments to Brazil’s future.
One of our priorities is encouraging robust debates around back-to-school strategies and supporting educational managers to structure protocols that guarantee both continued learning as well as the safety of students, teachers, and education professionals. Throughout this process, we have realized that so much of what we have been fighting so hard for over the past decade—quality Internet in all public schools, technology-powered resources for learning, and sound pedagogy—are of the utmost importance during pandemic times.
We are also strengthening our support for the development of the next generation of leaders committed to solving Brazil’s major challenges.
This is just the beginning of an arduous journey. But these early results you will read about in this report show that good things are already happening. We remain together, working now for the future Brazil that we dream of and know to be possible.
Denis Mizne
Executive Director, Lemann Foundation
For a Brazil that believes in people,
for people that believe in Brazil
See how we work:
For a Brazil that believes in people
For people that believe in Brazil
Action fronts
To face down the pandemic and mitigate its effects as much as possible, we launched #PeloFuturoAgora, the umbrella term for a group of actions designed to ensure access to learning during this period of social isolation. We do this by strengthening partnerships and increasing support to leaders and organizations focused on the current moment or who need support to sustain their ongoing work throughout this period.
2020’S CHALLENGES CALL FOR BOLD ACTION FUELED BY INITIATIVE AND INNOVATION
REVERSING HISTORICAL INEQUALITIES REQUIRES LARGE-SCALE TRANSFORMATION, FOR EVERYONE
COLLECTIVE SOCIAL CHALLENGES DEMAND DIVERSE, INDEPENDENT, AND MULTISECTOR COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS
2020’S CHALLENGES CALL FOR BOLD ACTION FUELED BY INITIATIVE AND INNOVATION
COVID-19 VACCINE
WE FUNDED THE FIRST THOUSAND COVID-19 VACCINE TRIALS IN BRAZIL
In partnership with the University of Oxford and the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) and with the approval of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa).
We have further increased the number of trials in Brazil in partnership with the Brava and Telles Foundations.
Some of the tests are also funded and supported by Rede D’Or, a network of Brazilian medical and hospital services, and the pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca.
Ph.D. Professor Sue Ann Costa Clemens, Director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Siena and Brazilian researcher specializing in infectious diseases and vaccine prevention, responsible for coordinating the trials in Brazil. (Photo by Wilton Junior / Estadão)
A COVID VACCINE Production Facility in Brazil
The Lemann Foundation helped form a public-private partnership to make a Covid-19 vaccine production facility in Rio de Janeiro a reality.
Led by Brazilians from end to end, the high-tech facility is forecast to begin production in the first months of 2021. Early on, the factory will have the capacity to fill 100 million doses of the vaccine, which is being developed by the University of Oxford together with the British pharmaceutical laboratory, AstraZeneca.
The accelerated project was made possible by an unprecedented alliance of Brazil’s major corporations, non-profits, and foundations—the Lemann Foundation, Votorantim Institute, Brava Foundation, the Behring Family Foundation, Ambev, Americanas, Itaú Unibanco (All for Health) and Stone.
For the Lemann Foundation, helping initiate and fund the vaccine trials in Brazil translates our commitment to our country and our people into effective action. Supporting the work of researchers on the frontline of the pandemic has been one of our greatest accomplishments since the first Brazilian was stricken with Covid-19.
“Enabling the Oxford vaccine clinical trials in Brazil was the first important step we took to ensure effective responses in the fight against the novel Coronavirus. With a multisectoral collaboration and partnership for the construction of a manufacturing facility, the Lemann Foundation reaffirms its commitment to Brazil and its people in solving both current and future challenges.” Denis Mizne, Lemann Foundation’s Executive Director
“We hope to leave an enduring public legacy that not only benefits millions of Brazilians now but one that better positions Brazil to face similar challenges when they arise in the future." Jorge Paulo Lemann, Chairman of the Board of the Lemann Foundation
REVERSING HISTORICAL INEQUALITIES REQUIRES LARGE-SCALE TRANSFORMATION, FOR EVERYONE
INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT REMOTE LEARNING
With the onset of the pandemic, entrenched educational challenges in Brazil have become even more complex. These critical conditions called for the coordinated and committed action of governments, leaders, and social organizations.
To reach students, families, and teachers in every corner of our vast country, our solutions had to be dynamic and diverse. To ensure inclusivity and high-quality content, all the lessons we helped develop are readily accessible, free, and aligned with the Brazilian Learning Standards that we led the movement to implement.
11 MM
Students potentially reached*
*as of July 2020
MULTIPLATFORM SOLUTIONS FOR STUDENTS, FAMILIES, AND TEACHERS
In a country as huge and as unequal as Brazil, we have always focused on the vast challenge of ensuring quality learning for all young people. With students sheltering at home, it has never been more critical to reach every child across their wildly varying realities.
To this end, we worked hand-in-hand with the National Council of Education Secretaries (Consed) and the National Union of Municipal Education Directors (Undime), as well as foundations, institutes, public managers, teachers, families, and the students themselves to map out potential courses of action.
We contributed to the curation, production, and funding of online content, tools, and best practices for teachers, managers, and family members;
We developed lesson plans teachers could access on their mobile phones;
We brought educational content to broadcast television so that children without computers and Internet access could continue learning;
We curated the highest quality online video teaching content, organized it by grade and subject, and made it available on YouTube.
SUPPORTING SCHOOL DISTRICTS
With students from so many different socio-economic backgrounds, reaching all learners is a major challenge facing public school districts. It requires instilling a sense of urgency in public managers, educators, and families that high-quality learning is more critical now than ever.
Together with the Departments of Education of the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, we have made educational content available on various platforms.
In partnership with the social impact organization, Imaginable Futures and under the technical guidance of Sincroniza Educação, a non-profit with expertise in pedagogy, we offered technical support to school districts so they can plan, design, and enable remote learning. This initiative has served the state districts of Maranhão and Sergipe, as well as the municipal districts of Olinda, São José dos Campos, Teresina, Caruaru, Aquiraz, Francisco Morato, Embu das Artes, Jijoca de Jericoacoara, Itacaré, and Nova Odessa.
TRANSFORMATIONS FOR OUR PEOPLE, PEOPLE WHO TRANSFORM
The Lemann Foundation has adjusted our work process and programs to enable our existing
large-scale solutions to continue advancing during the pandemic.
LEMANN FOUNDATION TEAM
We converted in-person events and activities into online initiatives
We adapted our routines for remote work, offering the necessary infrastructure and psychological support to all team members
Right at the beginning of the quarantine, we joined the Movimento Não Demita (No Layoffs Movement) to proclaim our intention to keep all our employees on the payroll
PARTNERSHIPS WITH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS
To ensure continued learning in our 50-plus public school district partners that enroll almost 2 million students:
We replaced in-person visits and activities with online support systems, routines, and interactions
We adapted our strategies and offered support aimed at solving context-specific challenges
PARTNERSHIPS FOR PEOPLE MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
In the seven states where we have partnerships focused on improving people management:
We rethought our plans for our activities, taking into account the current context
We adapted our approach to joint initiatives, offering specific support focused on the challenges posed by the current scenario
LEMANN FOUNDATION NETWORK OF IMPACT-DRIVEN LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
For the 500-plus members of our Leaders Network and the almost 50 organizations we support for institutional development:
We reallocated budgetary resources to launch an Emergency Request for Proposals. The RFP prioritized sustaining organizations impacted by Covid-19 and funding specific pandemic-related projects led by network members
Connect + Host: we promoted online events for mutual exchange and support amongst leaders
In partnership with the Academy of Medicine, we offered weekly individual sessions focused on mental health
COLLECTIVE SOCIAL CHALLENGES DEMAND DIVERSE, INDEPENDENT, AND MULTISECTOR COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS
PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTED TO FOR THE FUTURE NOW #PeloFuturoAgora
One leader or sector alone cannot bring about the deep, scalable transformations necessary to make Brazil a fairer, more advanced country. Only a critical mass of capable people and organizations working together can make that happen. This is why we have invested in identifying, supporting, connecting, and leveraging the work of people and organizations in our network who have also played an important role during the pandemic.
Education can’t stop
Nova Escola, a Lemann Foundation-affiliated organization, continued working closely with teachers, rethinking possibilities and proposing practical solutions to keep education going. With Nova Escola em Casa (Nova Escola at Home), educators were given access to online events, courses, interviews, and 6,000 lesson plans adapted for distance learning.
Over 1 MILLION
educators using the solutions and content
Over 10 million
students reached
Assistance for those who need it most
Several sectors were directly impacted by the pandemic. Among the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19, the crisis immediately impacted those who were already vulnerable, often threatening their basic survival. The following are two examples of solidarity, commitment, and leadership that have made a difference in the lives of millions in Brazil:
Gerando Falcões, an organization that receives financial and technical support from the Lemann Foundation, has so far
RAISED 12 miLLION REALS-WORTH OF MEAL VOUCHERS FOR 40,000 families in 300 favelas across 11 Brazilian states
The approval and expansion by the National Congress of emergency aid from 200 to 600 Reals was another impactful action. Congress members Tabata Amaral and Felipe Rigoni, together with other politicians and civil society leaders, actively fought for the aid package. Both legislators have participated in leadership development programs supported by the Lemann Foundation. The selection process for these programs is guided by the following principles: independence, nonpartisanship, ethical commitment to the country and democracy, openness to dialogue, and leadership in the face of great challenges.
TO GO FURTHER, LET'S GO TOGETHER
A collaborative ecosystem to build a Brazil that believes in its people, mobilizing people who believe in Brazil.
Find out who is with the Lemann Foundation in the initiatives
we share in this report:
Academia
Co-investors
Initiatives
Affiliated
Organizations
Grantees
Technical
Organizations
Governmental
Authorities
Click here to see all Lemann Foundation’s partners
