Tech Trailblazers: Brazil
Recoding equity and democratizing science and technology
Photography by: Mary Gelman / VII Photo; Reporting by: Manuela Parrino; Photo Editor, Text Editor & Producer: Kaley Sweeney
Recoding equity
"Depending on your social class and skin colour, you will face different obstacles. For me, the greatest difficulty was accessing courses and tools,” says Nina, 25. “My mission in making the world better is to teach people the concepts of computing in a more accessible way.”
“My mission in making the world better is to teach people the concepts of computing in a more accessible way.”
Nina is a computer scientist and anti-racist hacker in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Before COVID-19 struck Brazil, Nina spent two years commuting six hours by bus every weekday to and from her school’s campus.
Now, Nina is thriving amidst the COVID-19-induced shift to home, using her newfound free time to break down barriers to learning for others to collectively shape technology’s future.
From the apartment she shares with her mother, grandmother, younger brother, sister, seven dogs, and robot, Ere, Nina teaches computer science on her YouTube channel, interviews female scientists from both Brazil and the African continent on her podcast, and voluntarily hosts cybersecurity, entrepreneurship and social movement workshops to diverse communities across Brazil. She also uses her expertise to advise UNICEF Brazil, Tik Tok and several media publications on digital safety.
“Today I have the possibility of changing lives by developing projects that improve access to education and technology,” she says. "The more Black, indigenous, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and the elderly understand the concepts of technology, the more we will have a more accessible debate about its impact.”
Democratizing science and technology
Nearly 1,600 kilometres away in Salvador, Louise, 16, is on a mission: “I’m planning to open an organization to democratize STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] and focus on communities that are more vulnerable.”
From 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., Louise spends long hours of her day hard at work creating an app. ’Conecta Elas’ (Connect Women).
The app functions to connect working women fluent in STEM subjects in Salvador with women looking for services, including teachers of math, physics and technology, and hardware repair.
Conecta Elas is dedicated to creating a safe and satisfying environment for female freelancers who want to flourish in male-dominated professions. She designed the app with the help of several friends from the Girl Up Club she launched in Salvador, which supports girls to upskill and pursue impact-driven opportunities – creating a generation of upcoming leaders for the jobs of the future.
“I want to advocate for technology courses and offer them to people with no resources and public schools, focusing on girls’ education. Through education, you develop a dialogue with people in your community, and through discussion, you can develop ideas and innovations that can advance gender equity.”
Three million children and adolescents do not use the internet in Brazil. Some 1.4 million lack access entirely. Of those who have access, Louise explains that one of the biggest obstacles facing girls’ growth in fields related to technology is not knowing what opportunities exist, or how to find them.
“I want to advocate for technology courses and offer them to people with no resources and public schools, focusing on girls’ education. Through education, you develop a dialogue with people in your community, and through discussion, you can develop ideas and innovations that can advance gender equity.”
