Cassia Jane Souza

In Cassia’s home community on the outskirts of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, many families lived in poverty and didn’t have access to running water and electricity. To improve these conditions, neighbourhood women mobilised and demanded the municipal government open a daycare facility so they could go to work and help support their families. The government agreed to their demands and opened a daycare run by the local organisation Centro das Mulheres do Cabo (CMC). Cassia attended the CMC daycare as a child — and now helps support the next generation of girls from Cabo de Santo Agostinho as project coordinator at CMC. Through her work with CMC, Cassia trains girls to advocate for their right to education. Cassia also represents CMC at the municipal education council where she advocates for gender-responsive education policies.

With her Malala Fund grant, Cassia will train adolescent girls in data collection and analysis so they can research the reasons girls drop out of public schools in Cabo de Santo Agostinho. Cassia and CMC will then teach girls public speaking and media skills so that they can address the findings from their research through advocacy campaigns and on CMC’s radio programme, Radio Mulher.