Obama Scholar Mateus Donato Amorim de Araujo, MAIDP Class of 2019

After Mateus Donato Amorim de Araujo, 31, completed his BA in Social Sciences & MA in Sociology and Anthropology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, he began to work for Brazil’s Ministry of Social Development, where he applied his skills in improving Bolsa Familia, the world’s largest conditional cash transfer program. Araujo’s work enabled access to impoverished communities in isolated and indigenous areas within Brazil. During the 5 years Araujo worked for the federal government, his work affected over 50 million Brazilians, or about a quarter of the country’s population.

Araujo’s exposure to social inequality and urban violence has been accompanied by exposure to public servant-driven positive change. Due to his experience with the public institutions of Brazil, Araujo hopes to improve the public institutions of Brazil, using his work to show those around him how effective social policy leads to social change.

After the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, Araujo will return to Brazil and work to connect individuals and communities in order to form networks that will reduce poverty.

“My work has exposed me to the very diverse realities in the different regions of Brazil, but there is a lot to be learned by listening to experiences from people working with some of the same problems in completely different countries.”