Impact stories

“There are essential things you need to know about me. Things that, if I were to explain myself to you one day over three minutes in an elevator, I could not fail to mention [imperceptible pause, change of tone]. Hi, I’m Paulo, I’m 17 years old, and it’s a pleasure to be here with you

“I am still self-conscious about myself, but after going to LALA, that changed a lot… I am proud now of my heritage, of my hair, of my skin color.” Sueli’s interest in her Guarani heritage grew from a desire to honor her grandmother. “My grandma used to teach in one of the most dangerous places

“I know that a single piece of fruit will not end hunger. But the idea is to help move towards that balance… Oftentimes, people underestimate young people’s projects in the initial phases, but they are starting to wake up. For me, the coolest part of my story is that other young people around me are

“LALA gives you clarity. It makes you deeply realize who you are. Through LALA, I was able to connect lots of dots of my own story that, until then, I had not connected, but which unconsciously were there all along.” Guilherme’s interest in holistic education grew from a shocking event when he was seventeen. Thanks

“Whenever I say that I’ve been through these situations, like domestic violence with my father and him leaving me when I was so young, and watching my friends get shot in the head… people act like it’s a hard thing to talk about. But I actually want to talk about it because people need to

Alejandra’s interest in innovative education models grew from her involvement in WAWA Laptop Peru—a family affair for her, a startup shattering boundaries in access to education for Peru. The idea for WAWA was born in 2015 when Alejandra’s dad Javier Carrasco, an IT Engineer, was traveling around rural Peru for a work assignment. He saw

While many walk away from LALA with new visions, passions, and ideas for social impact, Breno Teixeira walked away from the first-ever LALA Bootcamp, where he was the youngest student, as a new person with a newfound look on life. From speaking to someone at a networking dinner that had just become vegetarian after watching

The average high school student likely would not bat an eye if their teacher were sleeping; if anything, they might smile, knowing that their school day just got much easier. But Florencia Doval, 16, who goes by Floppy, is no average student, and when she noticed teachers dozing off, she became furious. Rather than taking

Neither of her parents graduated from college–rather, they both graduated from high school around the age of 22. Their lack of higher education, though, only pushed them harder to provide their children with exceptional educational opportunities. As a result, Laura de Matos Leal not only attends one of the best high schools in Rio de

Rough hands seemed to run in the family. Her grandfather had them from working in the Brazilian fields since he was a child, and now she had rough hands too, albeit for a different reason: Extensive handwriting–a fitting contrast of the difference education can make in someone’s life. “It’s incredible how this one thing can