Luiza Vilanova, a 23-year-old Brazilian girl who founded an NGO after being bullied at 15, has won an exceptional Rhodes Scholarship from Oxford University.

Luiza Vilanova had wanted to volunteer for an organisation since she was a youngster. She created her own social initiative after being unable to locate one that would accept her due to her minor status.

Luiza developed Gotinhas do Bem, a nonprofit that works in public schools to eliminate bullying, an issue she had seen firsthand. “I wanted to prevent other children from going through that,” she tells me.

By the time she graduated from high school, the campaign had reached 8,000 kids throughout 15 Brazilian states and seven Latin American and African nations.

The young woman, who is now 23, was raised in Goiânia in a low-income home and learnt English through YouTube videos before applying for international scholarship opportunities. She got accepted to 11 universities and will graduate in teaching and political science from Columbia University in New York in 2024.

During her undergraduate studies, Luiza founded another social organisation, Tocando em Frente, which aims to prevent school dropout and fill the “inspirational vacuum” in cities around Brazil. With the assistance of 150 volunteers aged 13 to 25, the institution has already influenced 12,000 pupils.

“I had access to the best education imaginable, while many people who grew up with me didn’t even have the chance to go to college. I felt guilty. After reflecting, I understood that the fact that I live between such different worlds is my superpower; it puts me in a place to think of solutions,” she says.

At the end of 2024, Luiza became the first Brazilian to be accepted into the competitive Rhodes Scholarship, which has already had winners such as former US President Bill Clinton, and will finance her master’s degree at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, which begins in September. Read her statement to Folha.

“I think this desire to help has always been with me. When I was little, I didn’t like going to the market to eat kebabs with my parents because there were so many street dogs. I would give my kebabs to the dogs, and I would feel bad all day thinking about them.

Besides, I always had good examples at home. One time, I was in a line with my father to eat açaí and the person in front of us’s card didn’t go through. We only had enough money to pay for one, and he paid for the girl because he felt sorry for her. I lost my açaí, but I always remember it as proof that even when we don’t have money, we can do something for other people.
When I was a teenager, I wanted to help with some social project, but none of them accepted minors as volunteers. I ended up creating my own.

I was bullied when I was 11 and 12 years old. I was a scholarship student at a private school, a newbie and a nerd. I suffered physical aggression — shoving and scratching — and psychological aggression. It was very difficult, but I did therapy with a volunteer psychologist from my church and realised that the problem was not with me.

I wanted to prevent other children from going through that. At age 15, I got some friends together and created Gotinhas do Bem to attack the root causes of bullying by teaching social-emotional skills in public schools.

I was cheeky; I would knock on schools’ doors and say, “Hi, I have an idea, and I would like to implement it here. What do you think?” Until a school on the outskirts of Goiânia accepted.

We worked with ‘gamified’ activities, like pirate treasure hunts, to engage them and develop socio-emotional skills in practice. We seek expert advice to ensure the theoretical part behind the dynamics. In one year, we had very good results.

I participated in a leadership programme and discovered that I could expand. We understand that young people are the main inspiration for children, and we have trained many of them to implement our curriculum in their communities.

I saw that I wanted to work in education forever. I wanted to study abroad, but as I come from a humble family, I couldn’t afford to pay for the applications. I had the support of foundations, which financed my candidacy. I didn’t speak English; I learnt the language on YouTube. It was crazy.

My first few years at Columbia were full of ups and downs. I saw myself very differently from everyone else. I had access to the best education imaginable, while many people I grew up with weren’t even in college because they didn’t have that chance. I felt guilty for being there.

After reflecting and talking to many people, I came to the answer that I had had a mix of opportunities and inspiration. I understood that the fact that I live between such different worlds is my superpower, it puts me in a privileged place to think of solutions and connect people who normally wouldn’t talk to each other.

That’s how Tocando em Frente was born, which I lead today. We want to end school dropout and focus on interventions to make school more attractive. We have a team of 150 volunteers, spread across the interior of Brazil. They are change makers.

We underestimate youth. There is a stereotype that young people are on TikTok all the time. Yes, I have a marketing team with young people who make TikTok videos, but they are videos showing the day of a regional director at a school, for example.

We held a hackathon to gather ideas for combating school dropouts. On a Saturday afternoon, it was packed with young people asking questions, engaging, and listening to the education secretary speak.

There is one story that really stood out to me. In 2023, we went to a quilombola community in Goiás to select high school volunteers. Of the ten girls in the class, five were pregnant or had babies.

The following year, when evaluating new applications, one of them was from one of these girls. She said she was going to leave school, but she listened to us and decided to stay.

Today, she is doing great as our regional director in her community; she finished high school and is thinking about going to college. That is magical. Inspiration makes all the difference. It made all the difference to me.”