good finance
15 years developing innovative and purposeful financial solutions to transform the world
good finance
15 years developing innovative and purposeful financial solutions to transform the world
When expertise meets purpose:
15 years of experience with Finance for Good
By: Bruna Gomes
Our trajectory is marked by actions that transformed people, places and stories. See what we have achieved in these 15 years of operation!
The fruits of Finance for Good are a source of pride for our partners and employees, but do you know how it all happened? Check out a retrospective of our history:
The beginning of everything
The year was 2008. In the midst of a global economic crisis, natural disasters and social problems, Leonardo Letelier? CEO of Sitawi? He often felt discomfort in relation to his work: the lack of a purpose generated several questions. And that's how the engineer left his position at a consultancy to dedicate himself to his dream of working with purpose and founding his social business.
What was a dream became reality and Sitawi has come further than she imagined. The purpose, which has always guided the organization, has become a consolidated value among the team. Letelier's expectations were exceeded: "For me, the team would not exceed 12, but we intend to close 2023 with 100 people distributed across our four areas of activity." But what was needed for this success?
An enormous desire to transform the world into a better place and values aligned with positive impact. These were the ingredients needed to create Sitawi Finanças do Bem, which has been working with financial solutions to boost the third sector for 15 years and this year is consolidating itself as the 5th most influential NGO in Brazil, according to The Dot Good.
Anyone who sees Sitawi in 2023, a reference in the ecosystem, cannot imagine that the beginning was challenging and required a lot of proactivity, innovation and purpose from employees at the time. As Luiza Coimbra, Communications and Marketing Manager, confirms:
?At the time we didn't have all the structure and capacity we have today. The challenge was to make a difference, even with more limited human and financial resources. To achieve this, the team's engagement in socio-environmental transformation was fundamental, as was creativity and innovation. If today we have an organization that is a reference in what it does, it is because of all the people who have been here and contributed with their efforts, their world views and their purpose to boost the reach of Finance for Good.?
Retrospective of 15 years of positive impact
From then until now, there have been many changes to Sitawi: the team has been to different locations ?Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo, São Paulo, Amazonas? while structuring new areas of activity, outlining strategies for implementing financial solutions and seeing the number of employees grow exponentially each year. But it was in 2020 that Sitawi had a significant turning point: the capital mobilized was multiplied 30 times through actions to combat the pandemic. The expertise and ability to innovate made it possible to mitigate the effects of the health crisis in Brazil through actions with various partners and civil society.
The more than R$ 200 million mobilized to combat Covid-19 were the means of achieving the final objective: saving millions of lives that were at risk due to the health crisis. And this was accomplished through the protection of frontline professionals and the expansion of health services in several hospitals.
Just like this case, Sitawi has another 90 Philanthropic Funds in its portfolio, which enable the contribution of capital to promote socio-environmental actions. Through a lot of expertise and a high level of compliance, the organization manages finances and allows the impact at the end to be more effective and targeted.
Over the years, the planet has faced problems that threaten global biodiversity. In Brazil, a country rich in biomes and species, this has also been alarming. Recognizing that the Amazon is a Brazilian heritage of inestimable value, Sitawi saw the importance of supporting projects in the region that protect biodiversity from the devastation caused by mining and livestock farming. It was with the support of riverside dwellers, indigenous people, rubber tappers and community associations that 1 million hectares of the Amazon were conserved. This is one of the results of the Juruá Middle Territory Program, which is coordinated by Sitawi and several strategic partners and local implementers.
In this case, the participation of the original peoples of the region's communities was essential to devise the best conservation strategies, like Chico Mendes? famous environmentalist? had already predicted:
?The rubber tappers, the Indians, the riverside dwellers have occupied the forest for over 100 years. Never to threatened. The threat is agricultural projects, large loggers and hydroelectric plants with their criminal floods.?
In these 15 years, it was not just the Philanthropic Funds that grew. Sitawi, which had been providing socio-environmental loans since its founding, was a pioneer in the democratization of impact investing in the country. In 2019, the organization launched the Collective Lending Platform, which enabled greater access to capital for impact businesses, connecting these social entrepreneurs with people interested in investing and generating positive socio-environmental impact. The Sitawi Platform enabled accessible and responsible investments for everyone, starting from R$ 10.
Sitawi's different areas of activity collaborated in the social innovation sector in different ways: supporting NGOs, financing social businesses, generating knowledge and bringing more visibility to the entire ecosystem. Third sector actions account for 4.27% of Brazilian GDP, as concluded by the research carried out under the coordination of Sitawi, an initiative of the Movement for a Culture of Donation and carried out by Fipe. This reveals that the scope of these actions is reflected throughout society, boosting the economy and generating jobs, among other benefits for the country.
Sitawi's great results caused concern and a desire to do more. The desire to innovate led to the creation of another front of action. In 2022, we began to operate in the management of Equity Funds, in partnership with Endowments do Brasil, in compliance with law 13,800/2019. Does the first Endowment Fund created within the partnership benefit the transvestigenere cause? in addition to being the first in the country, within the law, focused on the LGBTQIAPN+ cause.
In these 15 years, the work of everyone who contributed to this dream has led to great results:
For the future, Finance for Good
Over the years, the world has started to look more closely at the impact that human action has on society and the environment. For us, positive impact always comes first.
In the year in which we celebrate 15 years, we celebrate this performance through the success of our beneficiaries. This is what you can see in the 4 reports that tell the journeys of Matchfunding Salvando Vidas, Coopercuc, the Território Médio Juruá Program and the NGO Casa Chama. To find out how Finance for Good positively impacted the reality of these institutions and their people, click on the cards below or go back to the main menu and read these stories.
The mission of building a better world will only be possible with many hands ? be it from our collaborators, our partners and those who believe and want to contribute to this movement. Let's go together for a positive impact!
