10: Raphaele Godinho, Founder of Rescuing & Valuing Women

UnConventional

At 16 years-old, Raphaele studied the French Revolution in history class. She noticed that while there was detailed information about the male figures, there was no mention of the strong females who played a role in history. Raphaele realized her entire educational curriculum shared an unbalanced gender representation, which impacted society’s perspective. Later that year, Raphaele created Rescuing and Valuing Women – a movement to address the lack of appreciation for and recognition of women in Brazilian society. Raphaele believes that since school is where boys and girls develop their personal values, educational content should reflect a value of women and gender equality. Beyond her community in Mairinque, Raphaele has traveled to five additional cities in Brazil, spoken to 500+ students and impacted curriculum nationwide. In 2016, Raphaele was elected by Brazil’s young people to represent them in the Youth Parliament of Mercosur. Since then, Raphaele has become a respected advocate for gender equality, appearing on several TV and media outlets and reaching an international audience with her message. Rescuing and Valuing Women has also established a partnership with Vital Voices, a global organization that invests in women leaders improving the world. Vital Voices has selected Raphaele as an ambassador for their work and is providing ongoing support to Rescuing and Valuing Women. Raphaele hopes one day, it will be every nation’s societal norm to value women and their role in history and the future.