On 29 November 2025, Casa Hacker was featured in a special episode of the programme Mãos Solidárias, which presented initiatives that are transforming territories through technology, education and social innovation.
The appearance showed how Casa Hacker works on the digital inclusion of young people and adults, on developing talent in the peripheries and on promoting digital rights, with a focus on social justice.
The programme opens with an interview with Davi Borges Pena, a director of Casa Hacker and one of Brazil’s leading voices on digital inclusion. Founded in 2018, against a backdrop of disinformation, fake news and unequal access to technology, Casa Hacker has grown and established itself as a community organisation that today brings together more than 70 collaborators, volunteers and professionals alike, committed to:
- Training low-income women entrepreneurs
- Educating young people, educators and citizens in digital security, privacy and online wellbeing
- Setting up hacker spaces in public schools
- Debating digital rights, public policy and technology for the common good
- Accelerating community collectives and social impact businesses
- Creating rapid responses to social demands using technology and agile methodologies
This work connects directly to the UN’s 2030 Agenda, contributing to goals such as gender equality, innovation, reduced inequalities and stronger democratic institutions.
Hackerclubes: young people from the periphery as protagonists of innovation
The episode then presents the Hackerclubes programme, through an interview with Nara Leme, a STEM educator and representative of the initiative.
Hackerclubes brings young people from the peripheries closer to strategic areas of technology, such as:
- Artificial intelligence
- Data science
- Electronics
- 3D printing and modelling
- Virtual reality
- Developing technological solutions with social impact
Every year, the clubs come together at the Festival Hackerclubes, a moment to celebrate the creativity, science and technology produced by young people from different territories across the country.
Student Kauan Leonard Roque da Silva shares, in the programme, how taking part widened his outlook on the future and opened up new professional possibilities — a concrete example of how STEAM education, when it reaches the peripheries, changes life stories and life plans.
STEAM education in the public school: a visit to E.E. Professora Maria de Lourdes Martins
In the second segment, Mãos Solidárias follows Casa Hacker into the field, visiting Escola Professora Maria de Lourdes Martins, at Rua Osvaldo Vacari, 777.
There, the programme’s team sees at first hand how STEAM education is applied in practice, through the joint work of a school and a community organisation.
The episode features accounts from:
- Patrícia Polzl, STEAM teacher
- Brenda Dias, student
They describe how the presence of Casa Hacker and the Hackerclubes inside the school has helped to:
- Stimulate creativity and scientific thinking
- Strengthen teamwork
- Encourage young people to take the lead
- Bring students closer to technology, science and innovation
More than learning tools, the students come to see themselves as producers of knowledge and technology, and not merely as consumers.
Minas em Tech: technology to empower women from the periphery
The episode also presents Minas em Tech, a Casa Hacker project in partnership with PPG, aimed exclusively at women from the peripheries who want to enter or strengthen their position in the technology field.
With 150 hours of hands-on training, the programme offers content such as:
- Programming
- Electronics
- 3D printing
- Digital security
- Collaborative projects
- Visits to technology companies
With a fully equipped laboratory in Sumaré (SP), Minas em Tech builds real bridges between women from the periphery and opportunities in the technology sector, connecting technical training, support networks and concrete prospects for work and income.
Social transformation through education and technology
Throughout the episode, Mãos Solidárias makes clear that initiatives such as Casa Hacker are essential to:
- Reduce inequalities and widen access to technology
- Create opportunities for young people and women in vulnerable situations
- Strengthen peripheral communities through social innovation
- Train future leaders committed to human rights and social justice
Watch the programme on YouTube.
About Casa Hacker
Casa Hacker is a non-profit organisation, founded and led by people from the periphery and born in the periphery of Campinas (SP). Operating in Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, its mission is to make technology and social innovation a place for everyone, through education in social innovation and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). In recent years, more than 120 young people have been trained in STEAM; more than 400 people – from children and adolescents to older adults – have been digitally included through basic digital education programmes across 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 in the peripheries.
Press relations:
Vira Comunicação
Luiz Felipe Leite
E-mail: luizfelipe.leite@viracomunicacao.com.br