Over 400 people gathered in June in Brasília (DF) during the Aliança Empreendedora 20 Years Summit — a meeting dedicated to building public policies, sustainable development, and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. Micro-entrepreneurs, authorities, and representatives from organizations across all regions of Brazil attended, with a special emphasis on participants from the North and Northeast, which are emerging as strategic hubs for national micro-entrepreneurship, driven by female leadership and solutions adapted to local realities.
Among them, participants of the Project Negócio Raiz — an initiative by Aliança Empreendedora, supported by Youth Business International (YBI) and funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation through the Futuremakers program. Focused on strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in bioeconomy in the North and Northeast regions, the project has already benefited over 800 micro-entrepreneurs in its first cycle alone.
The event also brought together public authorities, including representatives from the states of Pará and Maranhão, who actively participated in debates about public policies to strengthen micro-entrepreneurship. The program combined two annual events organized by Aliança Empreendedora: the National Micro-Entrepreneurs Meeting and the Brazilian Micro-Entrepreneurship Forum, the latter held as part of the Empreender 360 Program.
Female leadership in the spotlight
More than just sharing experiences, the Summit highlighted the leadership of these two regions, not only due to the strong presence of entrepreneurs but also through the engagement of public officials and local organizations committed to regional development. One example was the participation of the State Secretariat for Women of Pará (SEMU), represented by Clarice Laonel, Director of Articulation and Policies for Women, who presented various initiatives focused on sustainable female entrepreneurship in the region.
Among SEMU’s many actions, Aliança Empreendedora is a partner for inclusive training, access to credit, and boosting the self-esteem of female entrepreneurs, especially those in vulnerable situations. “Aliança Empreendedora deserves all our recognition for the excellent didactic approach in using this platform (Summit) for collective articulation between government, civil society, and the private sector, with a focus on inspiring more women to transform their realities,” said Clarice. She emphasized that the event contributed to a more representative collective effort, aligned with local realities and segmented by region, promoting knowledge and experience-sharing focused on economic development.
Clarice also highlighted the growth of female participation in informal entrepreneurship, despite the challenges of family care. According to her, the materials produced during the Forum will serve as a basis for improving public policies, decentralizing actions, and aligning strategies with the socioeconomic realities of municipalities in Pará.
Following the exchanges at the Summit, SEMU plans to implement active listening spaces to map local needs, provide training and access to credit, and develop certified training pathways in business management and digital marketing, among others. They are also in talks with Aliança Empreendedora to deepen their partnership. Additionally, the adoption of digital platforms for managing and monitoring public policies is planned to enhance the effectiveness and visibility of initiatives supporting female entrepreneurship in the state.
Micro-entrepreneurs from Negócio Raiz also participated
The project Negócio Raiz was present at the event with eight entrepreneurs, including Aline Rodrigues da Silva Costa, Izabela Conceição Lopes, and Jéssica Santos da Cruz Moraes, participants in the initiative’s first cycle, which spans three years. For them, attending the event was an opportunity to exchange experiences, strengthen networks, and establish new partnerships for business growth.
Psychologist Aline Rodrigues emphasized that the Summit provided meaningful connections with other entrepreneurs and representatives of institutions aligned with her mission. According to her, there were many lessons learned in topics such as management, impact, networks, and purpose. “The connections made will certainly reflect directly in the growth and expansion of the social impact of my work,” she said. Currently expanding her projects focused on women’s mental health, Aline is bringing them to new spaces with clearer purpose and vision for the future.
“Seeing how each entrepreneur, even from different contexts, faces similar challenges and seeks creative and powerful solutions is something that greatly strengthens our journey. What stood out most was the power of collectivity, collaboration, and the ability each business has to generate social impact in its territory, regardless of size or available resources,” she added.
The diversity of profiles and fields among participants was also highlighted by Isabele Conceição from Iza’s Delícias Confeitaria. For her, the event showcased the strength of cooperativism and partnerships as drivers for small business growth. “The biggest lesson was realizing how each business can grow with the support of other partners. This showed me how important these connections are for the development of our work,” she said.
Similarly, Jéssica Santos from the initiative Mulheres de Fibra, described her Summit experience as a true “turning point” for her business. She highlighted the unity among entrepreneurs despite regional differences: “It was wonderful! What stood out most was the unity. Even though we were from different places, we were all there for the same purpose—seeking experiences and knowledge.” For her, the event was also an invitation to overcome challenges and find the right spaces to achieve goals: “Overcoming and breaking paradigms, because living this moment was incredible.”
Strategic partnerships
Credisol, a microcredit organization, also actively participated in the event, represented by ESG Coordinator Stefano Mattei. For him, the Summit deepened the understanding of the diverse realities faced by micro-entrepreneurs, especially in the North and Northeast regions. The exchange of experiences reinforced that the most effective solutions are those built from local characteristics, avoiding centralized models that poorly align with contexts marked by informality and community ties.
According to Stefano, many entrepreneurs from these regions presented initiatives rooted in their communities, with solutions adapted to local realities—whether in language, distribution methods, sales channels, or resource usage. “At the same time, I noticed that a common point among regional partners is the need to create financial and non-financial products and services that recognize this diversity from the start. Ready-made, centrally planned models tend to fail where informality and community ties are stronger than formal structures,” he noted.
The event also highlighted Credisol’s strategic role as a regional articulator within the impact ecosystem, especially in fostering partnerships with entrepreneurial training institutions like Aliança Empreendedora. In this sense, collaboration between the two organizations opens new possibilities for expanding access to microcredit and training, contributing to productive inclusion with a focus on social impact.
Among the key takeaways, Stefano emphasizes the importance of deeply understanding the profiles of the audiences served, adjusting not only credit offerings but also support services to be more sensitive and contextualized. Additionally, he highlights the need to strengthen the organization’s institutional visibility by occupying public and sectoral debate spaces and underscores the value of active listening as a tool for joint construction with entrepreneurs, as well as the importance of clearly measuring and communicating the impact generated.
For Lina Useche, co-founder and Head of Institutional Relations at Aliança Empreendedora, it is this diversity of voices that makes the Aliança Empreendedora Summit and the Brazilian Micro-Entrepreneurship Forum unique events in the national landscape. “These events are highly strategic moments where we gather narratives from across the country, stimulating income generation and productive inclusion from end to end when discussing entrepreneurship at the base of the pyramid. Having guests who represent the strength of the North and Northeast contributed to a rich agenda of debates, where the unique aspects of each region directly influence the construction of effective solutions for micro-entrepreneurs.”
