The weekend event hosted by BrazilFoundation brought together 26 organizations selected to receive support in 2013, as well as 3 organizations supported by the Carioca Fund. 58 project leaders, the BrazilFoundation teams from both New York and Rio, and BrazilFoundation board members participated in the event in Itaipava, a city in the interior of Rio de Janeiro, from May 17-20. All who attended where in agreement that this event was an unforgettable opportunity for everyone to meet one another and share ideas and experiences.
The meeting marked the beginning of support for these organizations, which, during the period of one year (and two years for those projects focusing on early childhood), will receive direction from the BrazilFoundation Monitoring and Evaluation team on efficient management and strategic communications. A skit, performed by the Foundation’s theatre troupe Artistas de Nós, kicked off the event and narrated the history of BrazilFoundation, moving everyone with photos of the people and moments that marked the Foundation’s past. After the project leaders introduced themselves, they spoke a little about their organization’s work as well as their motivation for working in their communities.
The second day kicked off the workshops, and the project representatives from 16 Brazilian states were divided into groups by themes of Institutional Communication, Institutional Planning and Institutional Management – all extremely important themes for civil society organizations who aim to better use the necessary tools to achieve results for the projects and organizations in which they work. On the third day the facilitators revised the work plans which had been presented to BrazilFoundation. Attorney Ricardo Campelo also held a lecture on legal guidelines for social organizations.
As a closing activity, the BrazilFoundation Monitoring team held meetings with each organization and the BrazilFoundation CEO, Patricia Lobaccaro, ran a workshop to discuss resource mobilization, offering information on foundations, institutes, governments and businesses that invest in social causes.
Exhausted, but still motivated, everyone returned home to their cities with the expectation that they must apply what had been learned in these four days of intense work.
