Bruna Camargo, Modelo C teacher at PerifaImpacto, during a training activity at PatioGoOn, in Campinas, SP.
The digital rights and technology ecosystem in Brazil still reflects historical inequalities: spaces for debate, conferences, seminars and technical panels remain overwhelmingly white, even in a country where most of the population is Black. This state of affairs is not accidental; it is an expression of the structural racism that organises who is seen as a legitimate source of knowledge and who is systematically rendered invisible.
It was in this context that Aqualtune Lab, an organisation devoted to investigating the intersections of law, race and technology, launched in 2022 the Cartilha Akoben para Antirracismo na Organização de Eventos. The guide presents itself as a handbook for diversity, equity and the inclusion of agendas and names in the building of events, focused on securing the participation of Black people in these spaces. Taking a legal and multidisciplinary approach, the material seeks to “understand the intersections between technology and race, uncovering the traps of racism as structuring the relations of knowledge and power in Brazil”.
Together with the Coalizão Direitos na Rede (CDR), Casa Hacker signed on 25 November 2025 its accession to the Akoben Anti-Racist Commitment, an Aqualtune Lab initiative aimed at widening the participation of Black people in events, particularly in the fields of law, technology and communication.
By signing the commitment, Casa Hacker recognises that there is no digital justice without racial justice and takes on objective targets for its events, seeking to confront the under-representation of Black people in spaces where technical knowledge is produced and circulated.
Among the obligations taken on by Casa Hacker from 25 May 2026:
- At events with three or more speakers, there will always be at least one Black person on the programme, from 25 May 2026;
- At events with four or more panels, at least one panel will be made up mostly of Black people, within the same deadline;
- At events with seven or more panels, at least one panel will be made up exclusively of Black people.
The commitment also provides for aligning Casa Hacker’s Code of Ethical Conduct with the promotion of ethnic-racial diversity at events, with these guidelines to be published by 25 November 2026. Casa Hacker further undertakes to review, incrementally and annually, the racial representation percentages it adopts.
In practice, this means that Casa Hacker’s event curation now treats racial diversity as a central criterion from the planning stage onwards, including actively seeking out Black specialists and using public listings and directories of professionals compiled by Aqualtune Lab and its partners.
By making this decision public, Casa Hacker reaffirms anti-racism as a structuring principle of its work and invites our partner organisations and the initiatives we support in the fields of technology, education and digital rights to take on commitments to promote ethnic-racial diversity at their events too.
About the Akoben Anti-Racist Commitment Akoben is an Aqualtune Lab initiative that proposes a model anti-racist commitment for public and private organisations, accompanied by practical guidance to increase the presence of Black people at events, as well as a public list of Black specialists in law, technology and communication. To find out more, visit aqualtunelab.com.br.
About Casa Hacker Casa Hacker is a non-profit organisation, founded and led by people from the outskirts and born on the outskirts of Campinas (SP). Working in Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, its mission is to make technology and social innovation a place for everyone through digital education and STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). It believes in education as a tool of transformation towards building a fairer, more sustainable future. In recent years, more than 120 young people have been trained in STEAM; more than 400 people – from children and adolescents to older people – have been digitally included through basic digital education programmes in more than 10 peripheral territories. The organisation has also trained more than 80 educators to protect the privacy and safety of children and adolescents online and has passed on more than R$ 500 mil directly to organisations, impact leaders and collectives for the development of innovative social impact initiatives on the outskirts.
Press relations: Vira Comunicação Luiz Felipe Leite E-mail: luizfelipe.leite@viracomunicacao.com.br
References
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AQUALTUNE LAB. Cartilha Akoben para Antirracismo na Organização de Eventos. 2022. Available at: https://aqualtunelab.com.br/cartilha-akoben-antirracismo-na-organizacao-de-eventos.
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AQUALTUNE LAB. Compromisso Antirracista Akoben. Available at: https://aqualtunelab.com.br.
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COALIZÃO DIREITOS NA REDE (CDR). Available at: https://direitosnarede.org.br.