Soul Bilíngue, one of Aspire Institute’s newest partners, provides English language learning programs to underprivileged youth in Brazil. This pioneering collaboration aims to offer a more comprehensive development pathway to young individuals with leadership potential.
Through this partnership, students who wish to improve their English level before applying to the Aspire Leaders Program will be encouraged to participate in the Soul Bilíngue program. Soul Bilíngue students will also continue to maintain their English language skills and seek ongoing development by engaging with Aspire Institute.
Ariane Noronha, the founder of Soul Bilíngue, enthusiastically shared her vision and motivation behind this innovative partnership. Noronha highlights the importance of her own global exchange experience and how it incited her to establish Soul Bilíngue.
“As someone who attended public school and came from a background where my parents worked as a manicurist and a warehouse assistant, I had no references of people close to me who had traveled abroad,” she said. “I let that desire fade away because everything was too expensive when I researched exchange programs – but then I discovered an au pair program in the United States through a childhood friend.”
Her transformative experience abroad led her to realize that many people in similar circumstances did not have access to similar opportunities or an incentive to learn English. This led to her founding Soul Bilíngue.
Her hope remains to provide guidance and support to public school students, enabling them to experience the world of possibilities open to them after gaining English proficiency and cultural exchange.
Noronha emphasized that this collaboration with Aspire Institute paves new paths and opportunities. She mentioned the importance of young people connecting with individuals from different parts of the world and immersing themselves in a bilingual environment.
“They will have contact with people they would never have met before, such as Harvard professors,” Noronha said. “This brings them closer to a reality that is not theirs today, but one that we want to make a part of their daily lives.”
Noranha believes that facilitating global connections and knowledge will change young adults’ mindsets and positively impact their life trajectories. She feels the partnership with Aspire Institute will be empowering and transformative for many emerging leaders.
It’s about bringing new references for them. Not just the path they can currently envision, but also other possibilities.
“It’s about bringing new references for them,” she said. “Not just the path they can currently envision, but also other possibilities.”
Aspire Institute and Soul Bilíngue will work together to break barriers and open new horizons, enabling young adults to become global citizens, inspiring leaders, and agents of change in their communities.
This partnership represents an important step in democratizing access to quality education and English language learning in Brazil, preparing students for an increasingly globalized future full of opportunities.
