OUR TEAM!
FOUNDING COUNCIL
Ana Clara Telles
Internationalist, PhD in International Relations from PUC-Rio and Specialist in Public Policy Analysis from UFRJ. She has worked for 13 years in the third sector on drug policy, criminal justice and public security. She is a Program Officer at the Open Society Foundations, supporting organizations that fight against violence and for access to rights. She is co-founder of Movimentos, a favela organization that discusses drug policy from the perspective of peripheral youth.

Gelson Henrique
Co-founder of the PIPA Initiative. Human rights activist for 7 years. Social Scientist and Master in Public Policy. Recognized by ASHOKA as a Young Democracy Changemaker. He has experience in project management, public management and institutional coordination.


Marcelle Decothe
A black woman from the periphery, she has a degree in Defense and International Strategic Management from UFRJ, a master's degree in Human Rights Public Policies (PPDDH/UFRJ) and a research for a PhD in Sociology at UFF. She is a popular educator and researcher on gender, race and violence. Co-founder of the Favelas Na Luta movement, she is a member of the Black Coalition for Rights and the RJ Youth Forum. She has 10 years of experience working in the third sector, public management and production of electoral campaigns for legislative mandates.

Raull Santiago
He is a local from Complexo do Alemão and one of the 50 most creative professionals in Brazil according to WIRED magazine (2020). Manager of social projects in the third sector, marketing consultant, activist for human rights, climate change, black people and entrepreneur, CEO of Agência Brecha - Favela Intelligence Hub. AMA water ambassador and advisor to various social initiatives. He is the founder of the PIPA Initiative.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Gelson Henrique
Executive Director
Co-founder of the PIPA Initiative. Human rights activist for 7 years. Social Scientist and Master in Public Policy. Recognized by ASHOKA as a Young Democracy Changemaker. He has experience in project management, public management and institutional coordination.


Marcelle Decothe
Director of Sustainability
and Strategies
A black woman from the periphery, she has a degree in Defense and International Strategic Management from UFRJ, a master's degree in Human Rights Public Policies (PPDDH/UFRJ) and a research for a PhD in Sociology at UFF. She is a popular educator and researcher on gender, race and violence. Co-founder of the Favelas Na Luta movement, she is a member of the Black Coalition for Rights and the RJ Youth Forum. She has 10 years of experience working in the third sector, public management and production of electoral campaigns for legislative mandates.
Carla Ninos
A black woman, with a afrobrazilian religion and from the Amazon. With a degree in Literature and Journalism, she has 17 years' experience as a journalist, working in TV, radio, print, magazine, websites and communications and advertising agencies. In the third sector, she has worked in non-governmental organizations focused on socio-environmental and climate issues.
She has also worked with indigenous peoples, quilombolas and family farmers in the states of Pará, Amazonas and Mato Grosso.

Communications Coordinator
Nildamara Torres
Research Coordinator
Black woman, anthropologist, PhD student in Social Sciences at UERJ. She is a researcher in the CORRE group: Ethnographic Experiments in Urban Territories at UFRRJ. She has been working in the socio-environmental and human rights fields for seven years through NGOs and collectives. She has experience with traditional peoples and communities, homelessness and food and nutrition security.

Andrey Chagas
Amazônida, PhD studant with a Master's degree in Communication and Culture from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), with a background in International Relations and Business Administration. They also research gender relations, sexualities and racialities in the Amazon; Afro-indigenous cultural relations and Amazonian territorialities.

Operations Coordinator
Dayanne Soares
Black lesbian woman, born and raised in Complexo do Salgueiro, in São Gonçalo. A journalist with a degree from UFF, she is passionate about design and content production. She has more than 4 years' experience in creation, content planning and design, producing art for various media, including websites, visual identity development and pieces for social networks.

Communications Adviser
Letícia Mendes
Research assistant
Black lesbian woman, social scientist and PhD student in Demography at UNICAMP. She is an independent consultant in Data Analysis and a researcher at the “Elza Berquó” Population Studies Center. She has 10 years' experience in research on adolescence and youth, family, education, gender and race studies, sexual and reproductive health, public policies, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Gilvana Santos

Operations Assistant
Coordinator of Popular Housing in Rio de Janeiro. She fights for decent housing and the right to the city. She is an accounting technician. In her career she has been part of the technical staff of different sectors in the public administration and has administrative experience of projects in the third sector.