As members of the Brazil-Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, we find countless possibilities for strengthening the relationships between Minnesota and Brazil. Our partners and friends in the two countries are spread across many sectors. We have been making new friends, connecting with business partners, and we have learned a lot from one another as we seek solutions for common problems.

Accordingly, the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations & Social Justice at the University of Minnesota and Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil, asked for our help in establishing ties with the philanthropic community in Brazil, and Brazilian subsidiaries of U.S. corporations headquartered in Minnesota, for supporting the 5th World Conference on Remedies to Racial & Ethnic Economic Inequality. Since some of our Chamber members have years of experience working with the philanthropic institutions in Brazil and with a number of U.S. subsidiaries in Brazil, we were able to make the appropriate connections for them.

The conference will be held in Vitória, ES, Brazil, from September 26th through 29th, 2018, on the theme of Global Inequality & Health Disparities. The three-day conference will be followed by a series of local community health and economic development workshops in which a number of Minnesota agencies will also participate. These are being organized by Judge LaJune Lange, founder of the International Leadership Institute, and by Antonia Apolinario Wilcoxon of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

More information can be found on the conference’s website.