This October, the winners of the 2024 Best NGOs Award, the biggest award in the Brazilian third sector, are announced, and one of the candidates to win it for the sixth consecutive time is Casa Arte Vida, a Rio institution founded by the artist and philanthropist Ana Carolina Affonso. Next, read more about the biggest NGO award in Brazil and about Casa Arte Vida, an entity that has been part of the group of the best non-governmental organizations in the country for five years.(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) NGO Development Award The NGO Development Award is promoted annually by the social certifier Instituto Doar and the Instituto O Mundo Que Quero to evaluate the development of NGOs in Brazil. Now in its eighth edition, the award allows the free participation of Brazilian non-profit associations and foundations – there are around 800 thousand entities that operate in the country through this model.
Recognizing the contribution of Brazilian non-governmental organizations to development, the Development NGOs Award emphasizes the best practices of the Brazilian third sector. To this end, organizations that stand out for the quality of their management and transparency are evaluated based on a technical and objective selection of five main themes: Strategy cause and action, Representation and Accountability, Management and Planning, Financing and Communication Strategy and Accountability.
The financial sustainability of NGOs, for example, is an important evaluation criterion for organizations to be selected for the list of the 100 best NGOs in Brazil. According to data released by the Prize, 98% of organizations appear to have a fundraising system or donation button and have hired at least one employee to dedicate themselves exclusively to fundraising activities. In addition to having an employee dedicated exclusively to this purpose, Casa Arte Vida, for example, has a donation button on its website and a “how to help” page, where citizens can find ways to contribute to the organization.
Award Categories The Development NGOs Award is divided into several categories. The broadest category is NGO development, which awards 100 outstanding organizations among the participants. The ‘Development of small NGOs’ category awards up to 10 small organizations – that is, those with annual revenue of up to R$500,000. In addition to the category of the best NGOs of the last 5 years, Casa Arte Vida, an organization led by Ana Carolina Affonso, also joined the group of small development NGOs.
Other categories also include awards for the best NGO, the best for each cause and the best for each region/state.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) NGO Casa Arte Vida by Ana Carolina Affonso Non-profit organization that supports residents of the Pedra de Guaratiba region, in Rio de Janeiro, Casa Arte Vida (CAV) was founded in 2007 by the artist and lawyer Ana Carolina Afonso. CAV's objective is to provide inclusive and multidisciplinary education to young people and children, daily, after school, and through complementary education projects and initiatives in the areas of technology, finance, arts and entrepreneurship.
CAV activities for vulnerable youth in the community combine innovation and creativity to provide a safe and welcoming environment that allows for public and community stakeholder participation. CAV's complementary education program, for example, supports extracurricular socio-educational activities that use active methodologies and consider multiple intelligences.
CAV's most popular activities and programs are the CRIA project (Creativity, Robotics, Innovation and Art), Maker Lab and Expresso do Futuro. As Ana Carolina Affonso believes in the power of extracurricular activities, CAV includes initiatives that aim at multidisciplinary and integration between school, family and community. One example is the organization's family promotion program, which brings together several actions aimed at strengthening family ties based on an integrated service model, which includes a technical psychology team, social support and pedagogy.
These projects received several CAV awards, including the NGO Development Award and the Itaú-UNICEF ti award – UNICEF Social Itaú program.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) Winner of the NGO Development Award Ana Carolina Affonso's CAV has a long history of receiving awards for services already provided to the public in the Guaratiba region in recent years. Since 2019, it has been recognized as one of the 100 best NGOs in Brazil, receiving the award in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date.
In 2020, the Development NGOs Award introduced a new category aimed at the top ten small development organizations – and Casa Arte Vida was also recognized there on the list. Thus, in addition to being part of the illustrious group of the 100 best non-governmental organizations in Brazil, CAV has been considered one of the 10 best small NGOs, an award that recognizes the work of those who do a lot, with little.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) At the same time, CAV professor, Roberta Macedo, gave an interview to the Best NGOs Award website, saying about the award “with the highlight of being among the first ten small companies, it brought us visibility and even more credibility in the work being done […] Another knowledge that we are on the right path, despite all the challenges.
CAV works with the pedagogy of autonomy, active listening and the STEAM approach to develop multiple intelligences. All of the award-winning organization's work is based on the Sustainable Development Goals for the Millennium, determined by the UN.
Who is Ana Carolina Affonso, Founder of CAV Brazilian philanthropist and lawyer, Ana Carolina Borges Torrealba Affonso founded Casa Arte Vida in 2017 to empower young people in her socially vulnerable community through education.
(Photo: Casa Arte Vida) Currently focused on painting tiles and ceramics in her studio in Cascais, Portugal, Ana Carolina Affonso is in the background. He decided to create CAV to channel his love of the arts and his desire to democratize educational opportunities.
The organization founded by Ana Carolina Affonso was honored with awards known as the NGO Development Award and training and education programs with Senac.