Harvard Alumni Club of Brazil and Brazilian Nonprofit Partner to Support Student Scholarships

The Harvard Alumni Club of Brazil launched a new partnership on Tuesday with Brazilian nonprofit Fundação Estudar to provide scholarships for local students studying abroad, including those admitted to the College.

The partnership will support the general scholarship programs of Fundação Estudar. This year, the foundation is sponsoring six Harvard candidates, some of whom will receive funding from the club.

Established in 1991 by Jorge Paulo Lemann ’61, Harvard Business School graduate Marcel H. Telles, and Beto Sicupira, Fundação Estudar provides educational and career programs and scholarships to Brazilian students studying abroad.

The club and the foundation jointly organized a fundraising dinner Tuesday to announce their plans for collaboration. The event included a panel discussion by Harvard alumni on advancing entrepreneurship through educating Brazilian students abroad.

Edith Bertoletti, president of the Harvard Alumni Club of Brazil, said the club is hoping to expand educational opportunities for Brazilian students through fundraising efforts in support of Fundação Estudar.

“I think that everyone that had the chance to go to Harvard would like to incentivize someone to go to Harvard,” said Bertoletti, a graduate of the Law School.

According to Anamaíra Spaggiari, the managing director of Fundação Estudar, the organization’s programs and resources reach more than 12 million Brazilians per year.

João Henrique Teixeira Santos ’25, an international student from Brazil, said Fundação Estudar has helped many of his friends access opportunities to study abroad.

“To even know about what to do, it takes a lot of time and knowing the right people and doing the right things and being in the right places,” he said.

“I'm glad that they help us Brazilians that don’t have that much resources to come here and to explore the universities in the U.S. and in the world,” Santos added.

Though this year’s fundraising supports a general scholarship program, Bertoletti said she hopes Harvard alumni in Brazil can build a scholarship program dedicated to Harvard applicants.

“Of course, we want to focus on Harvard, but we also want to bring that as an example to other alumni communities,” Bertoletti said.

“Through these types of initiatives, we believe that we can bring people from all over Brazil to dream about Harvard,” she added.

Spaggiari said Brazil lacks top global universities, which drives an increased need to access elite education abroad. By connecting students to top education opportunities, the foundation and the club hope students can contribute positively to Brazil in the future.

“We do believe that leaders in Brazil — especially those who have access to the best universities — they need to give back, they need to feel responsible to make a change,” Spaggiari said.

“Our big dream here is actually to create better leaders — more relevant leaders — that will be in charge in the biggest positions in Brazil, take decisions that will have an impact for all of the society,” she added.

—Staff writer Alex Chou can be reached at alex.chou@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Ayumi Nagatomi can be reached at ayumi.nagatomi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ayumi_nagatomi.