Arapyaú is a private, non-profit institution, dedicated to strengthening initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development in Brazil. Within philanthropy, its field of activity is private social investment.
According to GIFE, private social investment is “the voluntary transfer of private resources in a planned, monitored and systematic manner to social, environmental, cultural and scientific projects of public interest”. These activities may be conducted by foundations, corporate or family institutes, communities or individuals.
The institute invests resources – financial, strategic or aimed at articulation (connection with other institutions) – in organizations, projects and networks who work on the front line of promoting sustainability. This is aimed at strengthening these initiatives and expanding their positive impact on society.
The institute has selected three priority areas to stimulate sustainable development in Brazil, represented by its programmes: climate change, cities and territories and territorial development in the south of Bahia. In these programmes, it supports initiatives directly related to its values and its strategies.
The institute does not work with areas or initiatives that are not directly related to its programmes and its strategy.
Networking is at the heart of Arapyaú’s work. It consists of linking institutions and leaders from different sectors – social, private, public and academia – around the creation of common goals and the collective construction of solutions for sustainability. Arapyaú believes that promoting a more sustainable world is an urgent issue that requires coordinated efforts capable of generating actions on a larger scale with greater impact.
The institute has offices in São Paulo and Serra Grande, in the south of Bahia. It supports initiatives in different regions of the country, as long as they are related to its programmes.
The partners and the initiatives to be supported are identified and defined by the executive director and the programme managers.
Arapyaú does not work with calls for proposals. The initiatives to be supported are identified by the team in accordance with the institute’s strategy.
The resources invested by the institute come from its founder and from other Brazilian and international private or public institutions, who act as co-financiers in some initiatives.
The founder of the institute is Guilherme Leal, a well known Brazilian businessman and social entrepreneur.
In the business area, he was one of the founders of Natura Cosméticos and of businesses in the impact investment area.
In the third sector, he has co-founded diverse organizations recognized for their work in the sustainability area, such as the Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social and the Rede Nossa São Paulo. He has also sat on the board of other non-profit institutions such as Fundação Abrinq and the Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade (Funbio).
In the 2010 elections, he made his one foray into party politics when he joined the Green Party and was candidate for vice president on the Marina Silva ticket. After the elections, he left the party and co-founded the Rede de Ação Política pela Sustentabilidade (RAPS), a multiparty non-profit organization that prepares political leaders, young people and civic entrepreneurs committed to the renewal of the Brazilian political system and the defence of democracy.
The institute establishes strategic partnerships with institutions from the private, public and social sectors and from academia. However, it does not directly finance companies or governments, but rather initiatives to promote sustainable development conducted by them in partnership with other institutions. It also participates in multi-sector alliances involving representatives of diverse sectors of society.
The institute and its founder are not linked with any parties and do not finance parties or coalitions.
Arapyaú is not the property of Natura. The company has its own institute, Instituto Natura, whose activities are focused on education.
Maraé is the holding company for Guilherme Leal’s diverse business and socioenvironmental organizations. These organizations operate independently, but are committed to sustainable development.
The institute has a Governance Board that establishes the broad guidelines for its activities and meets with the executive director and the team every quarter. The structure responsible for the day to day running of the organizations consists of the executive management, the programmes area and the support areas – strategic planning, project management, communication and administrative-financial.
When we have positions vacant they are announced on our LinkedIn profile or on our website.
arapyaú, in the Guarani vision of the cosmos, represents the constant pursuit of a land with no evil, in a cyclical act of renewing and transforming the world.
