Access Brazil’s commitment to reaching students in vulnerable and hard-to-access communities

Education has the power to open doors long before a student knows which doors they want to walk through.

For many young people in Brazil, however, access to high-quality educational opportunities is still deeply connected to where they live. Students growing up in highly vulnerable communities, including favelas and underserved urban areas, may have talent, curiosity, and ambition—but often have fewer opportunities to access the resources, technology, language skills, and networks that can help them pursue their goals.

This is where Access Brazil believes it can make a difference.

Our approach is simple: opportunity should not depend on geography.

Rather than expecting students in vulnerable communities to find their way to institutions and programs that may be difficult to reach, Access Brazil seeks to bring quality education and meaningful opportunities closer to the communities themselves.

Bringing English Education to the Community

In 2026, Access Brazil partnered with the Akelius Foundation to implement a pilot English-language education program in Embu das Artes, São Paulo.

The initiative brought together technology-based learning through the Akelius digital platform with in-person instruction, creating a blended learning environment where students could develop English skills while benefiting from direct interaction with an instructor.

The pilot served approximately 20 students across two groups, with classes designed to accommodate different ages and levels of learning.

For Access Brazil, however, the project was about much more than teaching English.

It was about demonstrating what becomes possible when high-quality educational resources reach students in communities that are often overlooked by traditional programs.

Why English Matters

English is increasingly connected to access.

It can provide young people with access to international knowledge, educational resources, technology, scholarships, professional opportunities, cultural exchange, and global networks.

Yet access to quality English education remains unequal.

Students from wealthier areas may have opportunities to attend private language schools, participate in international programs, travel, or interact regularly with English speakers. For students living in vulnerable communities, those opportunities can be considerably harder to access.

That gap matters.

Access Brazil believes that providing English education in underserved communities is not simply about learning another language. It is about expanding the horizon of what students can imagine for themselves.

A student who gains confidence communicating in English may later be better positioned to apply for an international program, access online educational content, pursue a professional opportunity, or connect with someone on the other side of the world.

The classroom can become the first step toward that larger world.

Being Present Where Access Is Most Difficult

One of Access Brazil’s central commitments is to be present in communities where access to opportunities is most limited.

That means working through local organizations and community-based partners that already understand the realities of the neighborhoods they serve.

These partnerships are particularly important in favelas and other highly vulnerable communities, where outside organizations may face logistical, geographic, and institutional barriers.

Local partners provide something that cannot simply be replicated from a distance: trust and knowledge of the community.

They understand the students, families, schedules, transportation challenges, local dynamics, and the realities that influence whether a young person can actually participate in a program.

Access Brazil’s role is to help connect that local knowledge with high-quality educational resources, international partnerships, technology, and opportunities.

Quality Should Not Be a Privilege of Location

There is sometimes an assumption that programs serving vulnerable communities must necessarily be different in quality from those available elsewhere.

Access Brazil believes the opposite.

Students living in vulnerable communities deserve the same ambition, quality, technology, and expectations offered to students anywhere else.

The objective is not to create a lesser version of an educational opportunity because the community is underserved.

It is to bring meaningful opportunities directly into the community.

During the English pilot, students used digital learning resources, participated in instructor-led sessions, practiced pronunciation and conversation, and progressed through English-language learning levels.

By the conclusion of the program, students had made meaningful progress, with students reaching at least A1 level and some progressing to A2.

Just as importantly, the experience demonstrated the students’ willingness and ability to engage with new educational tools and learning environments.

Education as a Pathway to Peace and Opportunity

For Access Brazil, education is also connected to our broader mission of conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

Communities facing socioeconomic vulnerability often experience multiple forms of exclusion. Creating pathways to education, skills, confidence, and opportunity can help address some of the conditions that contribute to that exclusion.

Education alone cannot solve structural inequality.

But education can create possibilities.

It can help a young person see themselves as capable of participating in opportunities that once seemed distant. It can strengthen confidence. It can build connections. And it can provide skills that remain with students long after a particular project ends.

That is why Access Brazil sees education not simply as a service, but as an investment in people and communities.

Looking Beyond the Pilot

The Embu das Artes pilot was an important first step.

It helped Access Brazil better understand what works, what students need, how technology can support classroom learning, and how international educational partnerships can be adapted to local realities.

It also reinforced an important principle: successful programs must be designed around communities, not simply delivered to them.

Access Brazil is continuing to explore partnerships with organizations working directly in vulnerable communities and underserved areas across Brazil.

Our goal is to build a network through which international resources and high-quality educational opportunities can reach students who might otherwise remain outside these programs.

We believe that there are talented young people in every community.

The challenge is not finding potential.

The challenge is making sure opportunity can reach it.

Access Begins by Showing Up

Access Brazil’s name reflects our purpose.

Access.

Access to education.
Access to technology.
Access to knowledge.
Access to international opportunities.
Access to people and networks beyond one’s immediate environment.

And sometimes, access begins with something as simple as showing up.

Showing up in the community.

Showing up in a classroom.

Showing up where transportation is difficult, resources are limited, and opportunities have historically been scarce.

Because if we want to expand opportunity, we cannot only build programs for the people who already have access to them.

We have to take the opportunity where it is needed most.

That is the work Access Brazil is committed to doing—bringing high-quality education, partnerships, and new possibilities closer to the students and communities that need them most.