Aliança Empreendedora

Brazil is going through one of the most difficult times. More than 400,000 have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, and recent data showed that 8 million jobs have been lost in the past quarter, bringing unemployment to a new record. The economic crisis is, as always, being harder on the poor. During these hard times, micro-entrepreneurship has been the life vest of the economy, and supporting entrepreneurship in low-income communities is crucial to lifting people out of poverty. In this context, the Elevate Prize will be the boost we need to empower, train and accelerate microentrepreneurs in the most vulnerable areas of Brazil, and catalyze their impact in those communities, transforming each micro business into a beacon of hope and resilience, by providing the skills, knowledge and the support network they need to succeed. 

Aliança Empreendedora has the experience, ability and the network to use the funding not only to support more entrepreneurs in the communities directly, but also to support the local organizations around them, and engage key actors of the ecosystem to advocate and push the “entrepreneurial inclusion” agenda as a priority for the Government.

My parents are Colombian, and Christian missionaries and they taught me that living for a purpose is the only thing that makes sense. After 2 years volunteering at a Junior Enterprise, I started working at a non-profit, in 2004, that supported young entrepreneurs in low-income communities and that's when I learned the hardest lesson. We had just supported 10 young entrepreneurs with their business model, and they were very eager to access the credit we had promised, but the Social Bank (a Governmental program) shut down their operations without notice and we were left with 10 frustrated entrepreneurs that were ready to produce and sell, but lack the capital to make that happen, 15 days later, one of them was killed in a gang fight, he went back to drug dealing, and we were left with that bitter feeling that it was our fault. From that day we decided to radically change the way we worked, and Aliança Empreendedora was born with the mission of supporting low-income microentrepreneurs in Brazil, building resilience and prosperity. 16 years later, 128,000 entrepreneurs supported, we still have a lot of work to do to strengthen the ecosystem that supports microentrepreneur, building an inclusive economy.

Brazil sits on the top 10 most unequal countries in the world, extreme poverty has risen and now we have around 13,5 million people surviving with less than US$ 30 / month, depending on Governmental support (Conditional Cash Transfer), working at informal jobs, or starting their own micro-businesses in order to generate income. 70% of the businesses in Brasil are informal and the majority of those are run by low-income micro-entrepreneurs. Aliança Empreendedora believes that everyone can be an entrepreneur and that inclusive entrepreneurship is a powerful tool to lift people out of poverty and build prosperity. Since 2005 we have directly supported 128,000 entrepreneurs in every Brazilian State, being 80% women, 60% black.

 Our work consists on empower, train and connect micro-entrepreneurs and we do that by delivering projects with the following pillars (links in Portuguese):

1. Methodology and content development 

2. Classroom Training 

3. Online learning (Tamo Junto - Aliança Empreendedora (aliancaempreendedora.org.br)

4. Mentoring (Guru de Negócios (gurudenegocios.org.br))

5. Inclusive Business Models -connection to major corporation value chains- Kiteiras | Danone Brasil

6. Access to credit 

7. Advocacy and Ecosystem articulation (Empreender 360 -)

Specific audiences we focus on:

1. Women

2. Young entrepreneurs

3. Immigrants and refugees

4. Afro entrepreneurs

Aliança has been recognized as a reference with more than 15 awards, such as The Rockefeller Foundation, Ashoka, Vital Voices, The Youth Business International, among others. There are 5 elements that make our work unique in Brazil.

1.  Aliança is the most experienced organization on the topic, and we refine our methodology every year. We were pioneers in online learning for low-educated micro-entrepreneurs, launching our, award-winning platform, Tamo Junto.

2. We were also the first organization to implement inclusive business models, including microentrepreneurs into large companies value chains, 

3. Network approach: Since 2009 we decided to share our methodology with other organizations, and we created training for trainers that expanded our reach to 137 NGOs all over the country. 

4. Systemic Thinking: In 20106, we started a Think Tank to build evidence and to strengthen the ecosystem, and building dynamic systems has been our way of creating solutions on a large scale. 

5. Collaborative Advocacy: Aliança also understands that it has a key role to play in influencing public policy in favor of the most vulnerable microentrepreneurs, and in gathering the network and the main actors of the ecosystem to be part of this influence too.

Since 2005, Aliança has directly supported 128,000 microentrepreneurs in the poorest cities of Brazil, with capacity building and customized training that empowers them. 80% of our beneficiaries are women, 65% are black, and 75% were informal.

According to our last impact evaluation report (2020), 80% of the people that go through our training, implement the knowledge and start their businesses (if they didn't have it).

More than 40% formalize their businesses after the training, and 44% perceived an increase in their income (even in the crisis).

Our Theory of Change is based on 3 pillars: Empower, Train, and Connect, in order to create prosperity. Empower, so poor women and men recognize themselves as entrepreneurs, and understand that they already have what it takes to thrive.

Train, to develop skills and knowledge that can be easily applied to their micro-businesses and generate quick wins in financial management, sales strategies, pricing, etc. 

And, connect to mentors, entrepreneurs networks, microcredit opportunities, legal and accounting services, etc.

“Aliança created a sense of family in our group, we are more than just a class of entrepreneurs, we are a support network for each other” Catarina Soares (microentrepreneur from Salvador - Bahia, class of 2021)

Aliança  supports an average of 1,800 low income microentrepreneurs per month, those are direct beneficiaries that completed at least one round of training either through whatsapp group courses or through the online platform (Tamo Junto). 

In 2020 we trained 22,577 microentrepreneurs and for 2021 we want to support 50,000 low income microentrepreneurs. We are committed to reach the most vulnerable populations, especially women entrepreneurs, and for 2021, we´ll count on the support of the National Secretariat of Women, to mobilize women that are part of the cash transfer programs from the Government, so we can empower and support them in their endeavors.

In terms of indirect beneficiaries, we multiply by 2.5, which means that in 2020 we indirectly impacted more than 56,400 people. And for 2021 we are looking to impact 125,000 people. 

And finally, if we were to count the number of people who had contact with just one class, we have a reach of more that 250,000 microentrepreneurs per year. During the pandemic, our platform is being used more than ever, and we are expanding to Venezuelan migrants in partnership with the UN in the North of Brazil,and also expanding to Portugal focusing on Brazilians and African migrants. 

Our Theory of Change connects with the purpose of the SDGs 1,5 and 8. We work with entrepreneurial inclusion as a means of promoting decent and inclusive jobs, especially for women. We aim to increase low income microentrepreneurs standard of living by developing their businesses.

To reach these goals we partner with companies, foundations and governments to develop projects that empower, train and connect those microentrepreneurs. We do that through free, easy-to-access video lessons on our platform, or through whatsapp courses, where our beneficiaries learn how to price and market their goods and services, manage their finances, and formalize their businesses for increased efficiency, alongside with one-on-one mentoring, and emergency cash transfers.

Expected Outputs:  50,000 microentrepreneurs trained  |  80% women  

Expected Impact:

1. Increase in quality of life: business providing more than just subsistence.

Indicators: Perception of income increase   |  Perception of increased quality of life

2. Entrepreneurial empowerment: Self-awareness and developed entrepreneurial autonomy

Indicators: entrepreneurial self-awareness  |  Conversion rate 

3. Strengthened business: More robust and self-sustaining businesses: 

Indicators: Perception of increased revenue |  formalization rate  |  Jobs created 

4. Financial Health: Organized Finance and Accessed Financial Services

Indicators: Access to credit  |  Access to bank accounts  | Saving habit

Main potential barriers / risks::

• Decreasing the quality and impact of the training now that is 100% online,

• Increased Entrepreneur Acquisition Cost, now that we are mobilizing entrepreneurs outside our own base, and accessing different silos and communities, especially those in most vulnerable situations.

• Losing relevance / authority in the topic, now that several organizations are working with the same issue.

To that, we structured 3 pillars that can be boost by the Elevate Prize::

• Adding value in short sprints to the microentrepreneurs: There´s team building channels of constant communication with the entrepreneurs so we can understand their needs in real time, and can act quickly, adding value at every stage of the projects.

• Powerful mobilization: We allocated a team to establish strategic partnerships with major NGOs around Brazil and with the Federal Government, as the covid-19 hits the communities, people  are facing hunger again and a combine approach with organizations that offer basic supplies can be decisive in their journey to start or reopen their business.

• Turning Inclusive Entrepreneurship a “sexy” cause. Showing that promoting entrepreneurship is one the most powerful tools to create economic and social development, so we can attract new funders to the cause.

We want to turn Inclusive Entrepreneurship into a sexy cause. We believe that the more we invest in the empowerment of a low-income person, the greater the impact on their community and on the economy. Brazil has more than 30 million of microentrepreneurs in the base of the pyramid, and more than 62 million of families are living on Governmental monthly support, due to the COVID-19 crisis. These people hold the key to unlocking great transformation in Brazil's economy, but they need tailored solutions and support, especially poor women entrepreneurs, who were the most affected group. We need systemic solutions and coalitions articulated. With the Elevate Prize team we would love to structure a coalition of organizations nationally or even globally to raise the awareness around this cause, and design a new fundraising model that can make funds flow to the entire ecosystem, engaging individuals, companies and foundations. 

The broader audience can act as ambassadors for the cause, and national and international companies and foundations can join efforts to promote this cause, by investing in the Brazilian ecossystem that support low income micro entrepreneurs, fostering innovation in the field.

Aliança Empreendedora is lead by 5 women, 4 of them are moms, and that´s important when it comes to building teams. We are an organization that take diversity very seriously, our team in 90% female and 50% black and we are on the course to increase the number of indigenous people in our team.

But despite all of that, in 2020 a cruel reality hit us hard. We realize that we were kind of blind to the racism situations our team was suffering with partners, some entrepreneurs, and some institutions. Luckily, one brave voice stood up and pointed it out and helped us see the institutional racism that the organization was replicating. 50% of the team is Black, but none of them are part of the executive board, today composed by 5 white women. 

With that reality, we embarked on a journey of self-criticism, we hire a consultancy, and started with an anti-racism manifest: https://bityli.com/v5p4E, followed by concrete actions towards equality, such as proactive invitations for black women to our Advisory Board, and culminated with an entire organizational structure redesign, that will decentralize power and boost emerging leaders, with autonomy and transparency.

Here I want to highlight the strength of this team. We are 32 highly qualified professionals, passionate about the cause of entrepreneurship and committed to co-create the best solutions to the most vulnerable micro-entrepreneurs. In this line, our team specializes in group dynamics, facilitation and andragogy, which allows us to work with the knowledge that entrepreneurs have, working with great respect and humility, letting micro entrepreneurs show the path they want to follow. Aliança's facilitators are trained with extensive experience in working with low-income communities, by the way, 3 of our facilitators live in favelas. Thanks to that, Aliança is now a national reference in the topic, and it´s consulted by Governments in this matter. Alongside that, we have people highly skilled in management, important to the organization´s growth. I was very lucky to be awarded with 2 amazing education programs, one from Harvard Business School (Strategic Management of Non-profits)  and the other from The Rockefeller Foundation to study Systemic Entrepreneurship at the Bertha Center (Cape Town University). Also, one of our Directors Attended a course at HEC Paris, on Inclusive Business Models. But I must say that our most important skill is the ability to quickly adapt.

In November 2019, we went through our worst financial crisis, we lost 3 of our biggest projects due to international new policies inside the companies, which means that we'd have to cut costs. We started by leaving our offices and working from home, then, we needed to say goodbye to almost half of the team, we created a crisis committee and opened new plans for fundraising. In March 2020, the pandemic hits Brazil, and the social distancing starts to impact our microentrepreneurs. 

I believe that crises make us stronger if we are humble enough to see it. The 2019 crisis called our attention to what was really important - the impact, and prepared us to face the challenges in 2020. When the pandemic hit, we were ready! almost the entire team was involved in developing relevant content to the microentrepreneurs, and focused on bringing partners to support the microentrepreneurs most affected by the crisis - poor women. In less than one month, we adapted our in presence methodology and continued the trainings through  WhatsApp groups. We conducted daily lives on Youtube for microentrepreneurs, our training platform went from 32k users to 95k,  and attracted 15 new partners to the cause.

English:

1. Promoting Entrepreneurship for Global Growth - Panel at Aspen Ideas Festival 2019

https://www.aspenideas.org/sessions/promoting-entrepreneurship-for-global-growth

Portuguese:

1. TEDx São Paulo: “Everyone can be an entrepreneur”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQXAf7--8H8

1. Training videos for young microentrepreneurs: 1st episode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkRSD4DyWao&list=PLzgWKOcMX__zqD_6BQ8Al-71BXNjQzkj9

1. Interview by TV Globo for young entrepreneurs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkGwqT7qHmM

1. Interview by Globo News about Aliança´s work during the Pandemic

Investir na formação profissional é ferramenta para crescer no empreendedorismo | GloboNews Jornal das Dez | G1

1. Documentary: “Pourpose”: Motivated by trying to understand the true meaning and essence of the Theme, Augusto Jr, Executive Director of Instituto Anga went to talk with 24 great Brazilian leaders to understand how these great leaders experienced this theme in practice, the idea was to show that this is possible in a great organization, achieve positive results and still not give up a life with a meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNs5DnwxB7c

1. Television Show: Aliança worked for 3 years supporting microentrepreneurs featured on the most watched show in the country - “Caldeirão do Huck”. The Show is called Mandando Bem and they do a “extreme makeover” for low income microentrepreneurs. 

Caldeirão do Huck | Relembre a história de Kayo no Arquivo de Verão Assista online | Globoplay

The Elevate Prize is the platform we´ve been waiting for to provoke systemic change in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Brazil. We have a Think Tank initiative that creates opportunities of connection between the public and the private sector to design solutions for low income microentrepreneurs, especially in hard times like this. Sadly, the pandemic will leave a legacy of higher levels of inequality, more violence against women, and millions of dreams interrupted. We want to be part of the solution, and we are working hard to help the low income entrepreneurs get back on their feet and restart a circle of prosperity. 

The funding opportunities of this Prize, will help us not only to increase the number of entrepreneurs supported by Aliança but will also allow us to support other organizations working with low-income populations throughout Brazil. The Prize´s communication power, will allow us to raise awareness on the topic and strengthen our Advocacy efforts towards building more inclusive public policy for microentrepreneurs, and, the knowledge and expertise that the Prize is going to bring will help us to create a path for self sustainability, and ultimately reach our dream of directly supporting 1 million entrepreneurs in 2025.

Companies and Foundations: Most of our funders are very hands on, usually we co-create solutions and work toguether. For example, with Santander, we work side by side with their microcredit operation and co-desing training solutions for their clients and build strategies to amplify the access to financial services for low income micro entrepreneurs, for almost 7 years now.

Local NGOs: In order to reach the last mile in the country, we partner with local NGOs all around Brazil, from indigenous villages in the Amazon Forest, to the coast of Santa Catarina. Those amazing grassroot organizations are the key to our successful model, as they adapt our methodology to the local context and also become a mobilization engine, at the same time they benefit greatly of being part of a national network, that connects them with opportunities of learning, and funding. 

Federal and Local Governments: On the National Level we partner with the Ministries of Economy |  Social Development |  Women, Family and Human Rights, to distribute high quality content for low income microentrepreneurs, and on the local level, usually the Secretariat of Social Development help us to mobilize entrepreneurs in the most vulnerable communities.