I first heard about Girl Up back in 2019, when a dear friend of mine was sharing her adventures as a young leader in Goiânia. I immediately fell in love with the idea and knew I wanted to be part of this organization that empowers girls so much they start to truly believe they can change the world.
As soon as I got back to my city, São Paulo, I reached out to Letícia, the executive director of Girl Up Brazil, and founded my own club. That’s where the story starts to get fantastic and magical!
With “Nós Marias,” the name of my club, we transformed the reality of my former school through conversation circles, direct actions with the school board, mediating gender conflicts inside classrooms, and so much more. At that time, we realized we could do more, reach more people. So we came up with this totally ambitious plan: publishing a book written by girls from all over Brazil.
We found a publishing house that agreed to fund the project, spread the word, and selected stories from girls representing all five regions of the country! The book came out during the pandemic, but that did not impact the awesomeness of our achievement.
After graduating high school, I stayed connected with Girl Up, became a regional leader, and not long after, I represented my state, São Paulo, in the “Elas Na Política” project: a partnership between Girl Up Brazil, Instagram, and the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court.
I believe that having contact with politics through Girl Up so early is what made me decide to dedicate my life to activism. But more than that,
Working with politics through Girl Up showed me it’s not something distant – it’s actually accessible
to us.
In that sense, my experiences as a Girl Up Club leader shaped my dreams, pulled me toward Journalism – the degree I would later graduate in – and taught me to believe in myself, in my strength, and in my political power.
Without Girl Up, I honestly wouldn’t be half the person I am today.
Currently, I work at an agency focused on supporting progressive content creators, and I’m also a legislative aide in the office of Juhlia Santos, a trans city councilor in Belo Horizonte – the city where I live now. In both roles, I try to bring the values of gender equity that were planted in me back in my Girl Up leader days.
Writing this text and remembering these moments now, as a woman, I just hope more girls get the chance to join Girl Up programs, because they really are life-changing.
