A one-on-one advisory session with the leader of Inova Quebrada during the training on Modelo C
Impact advisory with peripheral leaders does not follow a standardized or rigid logic. Although there are guidelines, such as terms of reference and training cycles, in practice each engagement is unique and must be adapted to the reality of each leader and their territory. The truth is that there is no ready-made recipe and no manual.
This experience report comes from my direct work as an impact advisor at Casa Hacker and aims to share reflections on this process, bringing the challenges, lessons, and paths built together with the leaders I support.
The work at Casa Hacker
This experience has been developed since August 2025, through my work as an Impact Advisor in two Casa Hacker projects: PerifaImpacto and Inova Quebrada, directly supporting 16 leaders through one-on-one advisory sessions, linked to a broader training process. The meetings take place in a hybrid format, with online and in-person moments, content immersions, trips to impact ecosystems, and experiences with other peripheral leaders, who serve as a reference and inspiration for strengthening the initiatives.
The methodology I use starts from active listening and from adapting the content to each person’s reality. More than applying tools, it is about walking alongside them, respecting the pace, the difficulties, and the strengths of each leader, considering not only technical aspects, but also social and territorial ones.
My work is also based on my own journey. Before being a mentor, I was an entrepreneur supported by social projects, and I went through mentorship processes that were fundamental to my development. From that experience, I began to work as a mentor and business consultant, mainly with peripheral people and single mothers, just like me.
Today, in addition to working as an impact advisor at Casa Hacker, I am a project consultant at Aliança Empreendedora and an agent of social and cultural transformation at Instituto Doné Eleonora, which is also my own territory. This journey directly influences the way I conduct the advisory, because I do not speak from a distant place; I know, I have lived, and I continue to live many of the realities I support.
In practice, to advise is, above all, “to translate”
A moment of answering questions with the leaders of Inova Quebrada during the training on Modelo C
Translating technical content, management tools, and concepts that often arrive in a way that is far from the leaders’ reality, adapting the language according to their needs, repertoires, and difficulties.
Dialogue with Paulo Freire
In this sense, to advise is also to mediate, to bring closer knowledge that has historically been produced in specific, often elitized languages, to people who were denied that access. This perspective is in dialogue with the ideas of Paulo Freire, in understanding the role of the educator as someone who builds bridges between forms of knowledge and people, and not merely transmits content.
Thus, to advise is to assist in the process of understanding the topics addressed, adapting them in an accessible, contextualized, and meaningful way. It is to ensure that the leader not only understands the techniques and tools presented, but is able to take ownership of them and apply them in their initiative, strengthening their work and broadening the impact in the territory.
This practice also connects with a view of education that recognizes affection, listening, and context as central elements in the learning process, an approach that has been strengthened in dialogues among Casa Hacker’s educators about how affection transforms learning.
A moment with the Facilitator at the training on Modelo C
By fostering these connections between practice, theory, and territory, the advisory consolidates itself as a welcoming space for the collective construction of knowledge and social transformation.
The leaders often come from a setting of little or no structure and low-quality schooling, which ends up creating difficulty in understanding technical terms and a lack of knowledge of both management and the ecosystem around them.
And even amid the difficulties and the scarcity of resources and supplies, they develop actions in their territories and end up taking on multiple tasks to get the work done.
The greatest difficulty identified relates to fundraising. They share a common goal, which is to achieve financial sustainability. However, this process involves steps that become known and structured throughout their participation in the training journeys of both PerifaImpacto and Inova Quebrada.
It is from my work in the Inova Quebrada Fellowship Program for Social Leaders and Entrepreneurs that the reflections presented here are concentrated, considering the lessons built in the direct support of the leaders throughout the process.
During the process, when facing the new, many doubts arise, and above all a lack of belief in their own capacity to absorb all the content and to plan and organize themselves to be present at every stage.
Throughout the process, it is very common for doubts, insecurities, and even the feeling of not being able to cope to arise. And it is at this moment that the advisory ceases to be merely technical and also becomes a space for strengthening. We work a great deal on confidence, on recognizing one’s own capabilities, and on understanding that learning is also part of the process.
Another central point is presence. There is no way to be superficial. Being in the advisory requires involvement, organization, and, often, rearrangements in one’s routine. That is why my role is also to help build feasible paths within each person’s reality, without disregarding their experiences.
We also work on mapping strengths, weaknesses, the skills each one has, and what needs to be adapted or improved, the habits that need to be transformed to improve the management of the initiatives. All of this on an ongoing basis, respecting the pace of each leader.
Me during the Theory of Change and Indicators track
Within this process we monitor the IDP (Individual Development Plan) of each leader, considering the goals set since the start of the project.
The pace of each IDP is unique and, even with the project still underway, we already have leaders who have completed 100% of their goals, opening room for the construction of new paths and development possibilities.
Through the MAPPING OF ACTIONS IN THE TERRITORIES it is possible to perceive the breadth of the initiatives developed, especially after the drafting of the Strengthening Plan and access to the Fundo Inova Quebrada, which enhance the execution of activities and significantly broaden the impact of the leaders’ actions in their territories.
Impact advisory and the relationship built throughout the process
A conversation circle with the leaders of Decodifica during the visit to the Rio de Janeiro Ecosystem
Listening as a stance
Active listening is not just a technique, it is a stance. It is about being present, understanding the other person, and creating a space where the leader feels safe to talk about difficulties, doubts, and also achievements.
Throughout the support, I become a reference person. I am the one the leader talks to when she thinks she will not be able to cope, but also the one she shares with when something goes right, like the approval of a project she wrote herself.
Mentorship, in this sense, is not about having all the answers. Often, it is about saying “I don’t know, but let’s find out together.” This exchange strengthens trust and shows that the process is also collective.
E, talvez uma das coisas mais importantes, seja reforçar que errar faz parte. Que ninguém está sozinho nesse caminho.
From my experience, it becomes clear that impact advisory goes far beyond technical support.
It is a process that involves listening, care, exchange, and joint construction. It is about walking alongside the leaders, respecting their journeys and strengthening their initiatives so that they can grow and sustain themselves.
Impact that spreads
When a leader grows stronger, the impact is not individual; it spreads throughout the territory.
And that is what gives meaning to my work: seeing that, from this support, other people, projects, and realities also begin to transform.
Generating impact in other people’s lives and, especially, in peripheral territories, is my life’s purpose; driving other people, projects, and initiatives forward is what moves me. Seeing that, through my work, the impact generated by these leaders ends up being greater than the initial one fills me with pride and hope.
I strongly believe in the transformative power of entrepreneurial education and of entrepreneurship as a source of income generation.
To advise is much more than “providing support”; it is encouraging people to achieve their goals and expectations and to bring about real changes in their territories with autonomy.
*This article used artificial intelligence tools exclusively for spelling correction and adaptation to ABNT standards, with no change in content.