After years of engaging in multiple endeavors and an intense journey of self-discovery, and following the most challenging and difficult year of my life in 2023, I have found my purpose and mission, which I intend to pursue for the remainder of my life. Reflecting on my entire life, it seems all my experiences have prepared me for this moment. Despite some consequences of past mistakes, I feel at peace, calm, and fulfilled.

I am developing a project named Regen Cities, focusing on the regeneration of cities across four key aspects: social, environmental, economic, and cultural. This involves creating a community-driven investment fund. We are initiating with two pilot projects, one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and another in Lisbon, Portugal. Our goal is to gather a community interested in rethinking and regenerating cities, forming a group to create regenerative real estate projects. We aim to establish a Regenerative Hub, a physical space where the community can come together to conceptualize real estate projects aligned with this purpose and create an investment fund to finance these initiatives.

I consider myself a super connector. My role is to connect with people, entities, and institutions aligned with this goal and help Regen Cities become a relevant movement for rethinking our cities.

My goals include creating a framework and platform for engaging local stakeholders initially in Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon and then expanding this collaboratively and organically.

For personal growth, I aspire to develop as a regenerative leader, change my mindset, and become a reference first and foremost for my family (my wife and our 6-year-old son, Bento) and then for the community I am a part of. I aim to develop leadership and communication skills.

For professional growth, I need to improve my communication and leadership abilities. While I can mobilize many people, I need to develop a better capacity to communicate effectively.

Coming from my background, I believe reaching where I am and dreaming big is a privilege. Having attended over 12 schools throughout my life, coming from a poor family in Brazil, and facing prejudice, I've always dared to dream and achieve great things. I am particularly inspired by the quote, "They did not know it was impossible, so they did it" by Mark Twain. As mentioned earlier, I believe my entire life has been a learning journey to this point, including securing a scholarship for this course, which I am confident will help me understand this mindset shift and take this movement to more places.

I am fascinated by the power of community and collaboration. My primary focus is on developing narratives that engage and unite people toward a greater purpose. Being raised in the Presbyterian church helped me, coming from a poor family in Brazil, to access a network that allowed me to dream and achieve beyond my circumstances. Analyzing the church movement non-spiritually, its narrative motivates people to dedicate themselves and invest in something greater than themselves. I study extensively on mobilization methods to initiate this movement for city regeneration.

Although I no longer attend church, I consider myself a Christian and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, which, despite their simplicity, are not applied by most. I believe the role of humans is to be stewards. Similar to studies suggesting the Amazon is a garden created by humans, I firmly believe in the human capacity to accelerate regeneration processes, akin to permaculture and soil regeneration.