{"id":24225,"date":"2025-11-06T16:41:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T19:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/?p=24225"},"modified":"2025-11-06T16:41:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T19:41:29","slug":"the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/","title":{"rendered":"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published in\u00a0Alliance Magazine<\/a>\u00a0on November 5, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Alejandro \u00c1lvarez von Gustedt<\/strong>, VP of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Europe<\/p>\n

I was delighted to return to Sao Paulo to attend the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum that took place on October 1st. Organized by IDIS \u2013 Institute for the Development of Social Investment and the Global Philanthropy Forum, it offers an unique space for the philanthropic community<\/strong><\/span> to gather, exchange experiences and learn with their peers.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme,\u00a0\u2018Hope in Action,\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>could not have been more timely. It explored how philanthropy can respond to the immense social and environmental challenges confronting both Brazil and the world\u2014challenges so complex that they can easily lead to inaction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Alejandro speaking in the Brazilian Philathropy Forum. Photo: Caio Gar\u00e7a<\/p><\/div>\n

It was an outstanding event \u2013 not only because it was extremely well-curated at a particularly beautiful venue, the Casa Melhoramentos, which unlike most conference venues features big open windows to the outside world, plenty of natural light and a much more conducive environment for connecting and letting serendipity work its magic.<\/p>\n

The depth and breadth of the discussions was outstanding. Sessions covered a wide range of topics<\/strong><\/span>, and angles of how philanthropy can catalyze hope and real action at a time when the overwhelming scale of societal challenges can lead to paralysis. Each conversation and angles were so wide and rich that they cannot all be listed here but included such meaningful ones as the role of corporates, pathways for increasingly impactful family philanthropy, social entrepreneurship and the the role of new technologies.<\/p>\n

I was honored to share the stage with such distinguished leaders such as Aron Zylberman, Executive Director of Cyrela Institute, and David Saad, President and Executive Director of Natura Institute, with the masterful moderation by Thais Nascimento, Program Coordinator at GIFE, a Brazilian association of institute, foundations and companies. Together, we explored how corporate philanthropy can be truly effective in catalyzing real, positive impact for a range of companies\u2019 stakeholders<\/strong><\/span>, including the communities they operate within, and the companies and people involved in their value chains, and for society more broadly. Cyrela and Natura are in fact great examples of this.<\/p>\n

Further, we also discussed how corporate philanthropy and social investment should be in the interest of any company as they ultimately not only generate social returns but also, as a result, tangible and intangible benefits for the companies themselves. A key takeaway from our conversation was the shared conviction is that true, sustainable impact begins with communities themselves<\/strong><\/span>. It requires recognizing their agency and engaging them with genuine deep listening and authentic collaboration.<\/p>\n

On a purely personal level one of the most memorable moments for me was listening to and learning from Daniel Munduruku, from the Uka Institute \u2013 \u00a0House of Ancestral Knowledge, who so beautifully and almost poetically represented the indigenous people\u2019s non-linear concept of time. His reflection about their focus is on the \u2018now\u2019, their living the present as precisely that: a present, as in a gift.<\/p>\n

As always when I visit Brazil, I walked away with a big positive energy boost caused by the contagious optimism, dynamism, can-do mindset, creativity and resourcefulness of the philanthropy and social impact community there. I know Brazilians tend to be very self-critical and to look to \u2018the North\u2019 for inspiration but I honestly believe that those of us in the North have a few things to learn from Brazil\u2019s social innovators, especially in reminding us what it takes to put \u2018Hope in Action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published in\u00a0Alliance Magazine\u00a0on November 5, 2025 By Alejandro \u00c1lvarez von Gustedt, VP of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Europe I was delighted to return to Sao Paulo to attend the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum that took place on October … Continue lendo →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[192,195,193],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pt_BR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published in\u00a0Alliance Magazine\u00a0on November 5, 2025 By Alejandro \u00c1lvarez von Gustedt, VP of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Europe I was delighted to return to Sao Paulo to attend the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum that took place on October … Continue lendo →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IDIS EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T19:41:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T19:41:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/Article-Alejandro-1-1024x576.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"lxavier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Escrito por\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"lxavier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. tempo de leitura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/\",\"name\":\"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-06T19:41:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T19:41:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10e1d42aec094152aea06836b106be5c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"In\u00edcio\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/\",\"name\":\"IDIS EN\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10e1d42aec094152aea06836b106be5c\",\"name\":\"lxavier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e0a4b0731293843819a978c6c267ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e0a4b0731293843819a978c6c267ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"lxavier\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/author\/lxavier\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/","og_locale":"pt_BR","og_type":"article","og_title":"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy","og_description":"This article was originally published in\u00a0Alliance Magazine\u00a0on November 5, 2025 By Alejandro \u00c1lvarez von Gustedt, VP of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Europe I was delighted to return to Sao Paulo to attend the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum that took place on October … Continue lendo →","og_url":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/","og_site_name":"IDIS EN","article_published_time":"2025-11-06T19:41:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-06T19:41:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/Article-Alejandro-1-1024x576.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"lxavier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Escrito por":"lxavier","Est. tempo de leitura":"4 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/","name":"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-11-06T19:41:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-06T19:41:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10e1d42aec094152aea06836b106be5c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"pt-BR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/2025\/11\/06\/the-gift-of-now-what-brazil-teaches-the-world-about-philanthropy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"In\u00edcio","item":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The gift of now: what Brazil teaches the world about philanthropy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/","name":"IDIS EN","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"pt-BR"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10e1d42aec094152aea06836b106be5c","name":"lxavier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pt-BR","@id":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e0a4b0731293843819a978c6c267ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e0a4b0731293843819a978c6c267ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"lxavier"},"url":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/author\/lxavier\/"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24225"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24230,"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24225\/revisions\/24230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idis.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}