From Grain to Grain Program – Cargill Foundation (2002 to 2005)

In 2002, Lula took office as president for the first time and launched the Zero Hunger project. As Cargill’s Corporate Affairs Manager, I studied the project and spoke to several people in Brasilia to understand how Cargill could participate in the project. I then conceived the De Grão em Grão program, sponsored by the Cargill Foundation, the Cargill Foundation (USA) and the business units of Cargill Brazil. It was a great challenge, one that was overcome thanks to the work of internal and external teams. I established strong partnerships with professionals who helped the program succeed in 178 public schools in 16 cities and reach 57,000 children and their families in its first year. I would like to highlight them: João Clemente (a company colleague and agronomist who was instrumental in implementing the program on site), educator and playwright José Geraldo Rocha and designer J.A. Tiradentes – responsible for the content and creative design, from the logo to the booklets for students and teachers. The program continued for many years under the leadership of the Cargill Foundation.

Christ the Redeemer Project – Otis Elevators (2001)

Anyone who has ever climbed Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro can’t even imagine the thrill of installing the escalators on those sturdy stones at the start of a day in late 2001. Leading a communications project is much more than conceiving ideas and coordinating teams and diverse interests. You have to make the idea connect with people inside and outside the company. This was the project to install escalators and elevators at one of the world’s most iconic landmarks. I was responsible for representing Otis Elevadores at the Roberto Marinho Foundation and taking care of brand communication before, during and after the installation of the equipment. This involved a trip to Germany to see how the equipment is manufactured, to understand the engineering project and its complexity – we’re talking about winds that can reach 230 kilometers per hour. Train the team of field professionals to work among tourists, think about recording all the stages with the initiative’s partners. Finally, I designed a script and storyboard for a video on this project for the 150th anniversary of Otis Elevators. My professional journey took me to another company before the inauguration of the project, but the feeling of pride remains to this day and with every visit to the magnificent Christ the Redeemer, up the escalators, of course! I would like to highlight the commitment of Priscila Gallego, who was on my team, and Lucia Nunes, who worked for us at the press office.

Gift project and social-cultural action – Boehringer Ingelheim (1996-1997)

How do you turn a challenge into an international success and make thousands of people happy at Christmas? The story begins in mid-1996 when Henning Manthé, general director of Boehringer Ingelheim in Brazil, set me a challenge – to produce a CD to give to the company’s customers, to be recorded by the amateur classical music group “Barroco na Bahia” with 10 songs that represented the Christmas tradition in 10 countries.

The idea came to fruition 14 months later with the CD “Cantos para uma Noite Feliz” (Songs for a Happy Night), with songs performed by the chamber choir and orchestra of young amateurs conducted by the maestro and priest Hans Bönisch in Salvador’s Basilica Cathedral. The numbers are superlative: a total print run of 160,000 copies of the gift set (CD, booklet in Portuguese, English and Spanish with original lyrics and a brief summary of the work), 20 songs in 11 original languages and in Latin. Some popular songs had never been recorded). The illustration was made with pieces from the Bahia Museum of Sacred Art. What’s more, there was an in-house magazine for employees with cassette tapes (at the time not everyone had access to a CD player), and 300 pen drives were sent to journalists. As well as praise from stakeholders including the medical profession, there was a special blessing from Pope John Paul II to the company and its employees (he had personally received the CD from the hands of Cardinal Dom Lucas Moreira Neves, an enthusiast of the Bahian group). This project reaffirms that a leader needs to have a certain amount of passion for human beings and for sharing universal knowledge beyond their products and financial results. A project needs to have a purpose and transmit passion to those who lead it. In this sense, I would like to highlight the fundamental partnership between Anneliese Helga Daamen Brunetti, my secretary and ‘guardian angel’; and Carlos Nahum, Marketing Manager, my colleague and partner in the project. I would also like to highlight the external partners: Silvia Dias, an executive at CDI, the agency that served the company, the DPTO agency and the Pancrom printing company, suppliers who also gave their institutional support.

To tell the story of sugar and, consequently, alcohol and ethanol in Brazil, and to pay tribute to Brazil’s pioneering producers. This was the challenge set by Francisco Vassellucci, then director of Cargill’s Sugar Business Unit. At the time, I was also in charge of editorial production at the Cargill Foundation. After consulting a respected consultant in the market, I came up with the names of Moacyr Castro and Fernando Brisolla de Oliveira, experienced journalists who worked in the sector in Ribeirão Preto. The 500 years of history were told in 164 pages, in chapters that also included picturesque stories collected over the decades by the authors. To illustrate, none other than Delfim Martins, a renowned photographer whom I already knew. This project would not have had a happy ending without the participation of Vicky Lee, who was part of my team at Cargill as events coordinator. I would also like to highlight the confidence of Francisco Vassellucci, director of Cargill at the time, in my work and that of Vicky Lee, events and marketing coordinator, who was part of my team. Of course, without journalists Moacyr Castro and Fernando Brisolla de Oliveira and the brilliant photos by Delfim Martins, this project wouldn’t exist!