This October, the results of the Best NGO Award 2024 were announced, the biggest award in Brazil in Section III and one of the candidates to win the sixth consecutive trophy is the artist and philanthropist from Casa Arte Vida Ana Carolina Afonso, founded in Rio. So read on more about the biggest NGO award in Brazil and Casa Arte Vida, an entity that has been part of the group of the best NGOs in the country for five years.(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) Best NGO Award Annually, the Doer Social Certification Institute and the Mundo Que Cuero Institute promote the Best NGO Award to evaluate the best NGOs in Brazil. Currently in its eighth edition, the award allows the free participation of non-profit organizations and Brazilian foundations — there are around 800 thousand entities that operate in the country through this model.
The Best NGO Award encourages good practices in the Brazilian third sector, recognizing the work carried out by the best NGOs in Brazil. It evaluates organizations that uphold their management and transparency standards based on a technical and objective selection of five main themes: cause and action strategy, delegation and responsibility, management and planning, financial and communication strategy and accountability.
For example, the financial sustainability of NGOs is an important evaluation criterion for organizations to be selected for the list of the 100 best NGOs in Brazil. According to the award, 98% of the organizations that stand out have a system or button for collecting donations and have designated at least one employee to dedicate themselves exclusively to fundraising activities. In addition to having a team dedicated exclusively to this cause, the Casa Arte Vida website, for example, has a donation button and a “how to help” page, where citizens can find ways to contribute to the organization.
Award Categories The Best NGO Award is divided into several categories. The broad category is Best NGO, which awards 100 outstanding organizations among the participants. The Best Small NGO category awards up to 10 small organizations — that is, those with up to US$500,000 in annual revenue. In addition to being part of the Best NGO category for 5 years, Casa Arte Vida, an organization run by Ana Carolina Afonso, also joined the Best Small NGO group.
Other categories also awarded are Best NGO, Best by cause and Best by region/state.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) NGO Casa Arte Vida by Ana Carolina Afonso Non-profit organization that serves residents of the Pedra de Guaratiba region, in Rio de Janeiro, Casa Arte Vida (CAV) was founded in 2007 by artists and lawyers Ana Carolina Afonso. CAV's mission is to provide inclusive and multidisciplinary education for young people and children through daily, after-school and complementary education projects and initiatives in the areas of technology, finance, arts and entrepreneurship.
CAV projects for socially vulnerable young people combine innovation and creativity to provide a safe and welcoming environment that allows integration between the community and social agents. For example, CAV's complementary education program promotes extracurricular socio-educational activities that use proactive methods and consider multiple intelligences.
The most prominent CAV projects and programs are the CRIA Project (Creativity, Robotics, Innovation and Arts), Maker Lab and Expresso du Futuro. Because Ana Carolina Afonso believes in the power of extracurricular activities, CAV brings initiatives that aim at multidisciplinary and integration between schools, families and communities. One example is the organization's Family Promotion Program, which brings together several functions aimed at strengthening family relationships based on an integrated service model, which includes technical psychology, social support and pedagogy teams.
These initiatives have already won several awards from KV, including the Best NGO Award and the Itaú-UNICEF Award from the Itaú Social UNICEF Program.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) Winner of the Best NGO Award, Ana Carolina Afonso's CAV has a long history of awards for its services provided to the community in the Guaratiba region in recent years. It has been considered one of the 100 best NGOs in Brazil since 2019, winning the award in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date.
The 2020 Best NGOs Award debuted a new category rewarding the ten best small organizations — and Casa Arte Vida was also recognized on the list. Thus, in addition to being part of the prestigious group of the 100 best NGOs in Brazil, KV is already considered one of the 10 best small NGOs, an award that recognizes the work of those who do a lot and do little.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) At the time, CAV educator Roberta Macedo, interviewed by the website Prêmio Melhores ONGs, said that the award “brought our visibility with the highlight of being among the ten best small companies and even more credibility in the work carried out . […] Yet another recognition that we are on the right path despite all the difficulties.”
CAV develops multiple intelligences by working with the pedagogies of autonomy, active listening and the STEAM approach. All of the award-winning organization's work is based on the Millennium Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations.
The founder of CAV, Ana Carolina Afonso, Brazilian philanthropist and lawyer, Ana Carolina Borges Torrelba Afonso founded Casa Arte Vida in 2017 to offer opportunities to young people in situations of social vulnerability through education.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) Currently dedicated to painting on tiles and ceramics in her studio in Cascais, Portugal, Ana Carolina Afonso decided to found CAV to combine her passion for art with the desire to democratize educational opportunities.
The organization created by Ana Carolina Afonso has since been awarded prestigious awards such as the award for best NGO. Furthermore, CAV has been establishing important partnerships with the government and other organizations and institutions, which has already provided initiatives related to the women citizens project and training and coaching programs with CENAC.