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Luciana B

- Research Program Mentor

MBA at Stanford University

Expertise

Business, Wellness, Mental Health, Public Health, Impact Investing, Career Pivot, Brazilian banking system, Entrepreneurship, philanthropy, work-life balance, long-distance relationships, Brazil, living abroad, leadership

Bio

I'm the General Executive Manager for Instituto Cactus, a Human Rights Philanthropic Institute focused on mental health in Brazil. I'm Employee #1 of this institution, being responsible for establishing, structuring and leading it, defining its strategy, operations, scope of work, projects, budget allocation, partnerships, impact metrics, and representing Cactus internally and externally. I'm passionate about mental health & wellness, both personally and professionally, and have previously worked as Strategy & Operations MBA Associate at Cerebral, a direct to consumer mental health tech startup in San Francisco. Prior to that, I have worked for over 4 years with impacting investing at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank), focused on the financial sector in Brazil. I have also worked as an associate at Mattos Filho Advogados (named five times as Brazilian Law Firm of the Year). I hold an MBA degree from Stanford, Class of 2020, and two bachelors degrees: one in Business Administration and another one in Law from Fundação Getulio Vargas, where I graduated at the top of the class and got awarded a fully sponsored fellowship at the Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). I speak Portuguese, English, French and Spanish. In my personal life, I'm a reiki practitioner, wanna-be runner and I'm learning how to sing (my current portfolio includes songs from The Phantom of the Opera, Toploader and Moana).

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Mental Health Career (or Startup)

Brainstorm potential careers in the mental health space or help with the early stages of a mental health startup, both in the for profit and in the nonprofit world. By the end of the project, students will be able to (i) make a career choice and understand the potential avenues to work with mental health; or (ii) start their own venture in mental health.

Navigating the Social Impact World

Focused on students who want to understand how an idea may translate into an actual product, and the intermediary steps that lead to this outcome. I will help them brainstorm a Theory of Change, think of impact metrics, and help them design a social venture. By the end of the project, students will be able to: (i) come up with a business concept from a social impact perspective; or (ii) create their social impact venture.

Languages I know

French (proficient), Portuguese (native speaker), Spanish (advanced)

Teaching experience

I have taught English to low income students in Brazil in a classroom setting, as well as offered office hours to them (from 2016 - 2018). In 2020, I had 6 interns working with me and I also offered coaching/mentoring sessions to them.

Credentials

Work experience

Instituto Cactus (2020 - present)
General Executive Manager
International Finance Corporation (2017 - 2018)
Acting Investment Officer
International Finance Corporation (2014 - 2018)
Investment Analyst
Mattos Filho Advogados (2013 - 2013)
Associate

Education

São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas
BA Bachelor of Arts (2014)
Law & Business Administration
Stanford University
MBA Master of Business Administration (2020)
Business Administration

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