Born in São Paulo, Ana graduated from PUCC - Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas in Occupational Therapy. In 1995, she was invited to the United States to work as a therapist in schools, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers for the elderly.

In 1998, she moved to Texas, where she specialized in Hand Therapy in the city of Houston, where she worked until mid-2004.

From 2005 to 2011, she had the well-known Ana Brasil store, bringing art and crafts from artists from all corners of Brazil and also selling traditional Brazilian foods. The store became a “second home” for the Brazilian community and became popular among Austinites.

And that was how the dream of creating Cultura Brasil Austin came about, uniting the teaching of the Portuguese language with the community and culture.

Ana loves art, traveling, and Brazilian culture in all aspects.

Born in Vitória (ES), Claudia has a degree in Economics and a postgraduate degree in Foreign Trade from the Federal University of Espírito Santo.

She worked as an import manager at Famex Importadora e Exportadora and as a development manager at the Economic Development Secretariat in the City of Vitória.

At Projeto Brasil, she teaches Portuguese as a heritage language (PLH) and collaborates in the development of the academic curriculum. She also works as a substitute teacher at Gateway College Preparatory School. Her passion is to spread Brazilian culture and teach Portuguese, especially to the children of Brazilian expatriates.

She loves leading story time and using music to teach Portuguese.

Born in Goiânia - GO, Danielle has a degree in Communication Design and a Master in Education with a focus in language acquisition and STEM. She also holds a master's degree in Education Technologies from Texas State University.

She is dedicated to integrating technology and STEM into education, creating online courses, and the Maker movement.

Develops specific teaching material for Portuguese as a Heritage Language, an interdisciplinary STEM curriculum with a focus on vocabulary development, cultural knowledge and development of language and technology skills. He actively participates in the community of PLH teachers around the world, sharing his experiences and knowledge at conferences, training courses for educators and publications in journals.

She loves traveling with her family, reading, and learning.

Guilherme Torres, "Mestre Pinga Fogo", was born in the city of Taubaté, in the interior of São Paulo.

Influenced by his uncle/mestre, he started practicing capoeira when he was only 4 years old. He traveled through many Brazilian states participating in capoeira classes, workshops, championships, and events.

In December 2002, he graduated in Physical Education from the University of Taubaté (UNITAU).

Guilherme has been teaching capoeira for children and adults since 1995, but in September 2003, he moved to the state of Connecticut because he was invited to work in a concert company (Young Audiences of CT), where he had the opportunity to perform in various schools, universities, museums, and on television.

After 10 years living in CT and tired of the cold, he decided to move to Austin, TX where he currently lives with his wife Joy and son Benjamin.

Ana Paula is Brazilian from Triângulo Mineiro, Ituiutaba, living in the US since 2018. ⠀⠀

Educational Psychologist, Pedagogue, Specialist in Psychomotricity and Psychopedagogy, Master in Business.⠀⠀⠀

She has been working in the field of Psychology/Education for 18 years and has been a teacher of Portuguese as a Second Language and Portuguese as Heritage Language since 2018.

She is enthusiastic about life, an admirer of nature, and passionate about learning and teaching. She enjoys traveling and collecting life experiences and, as a Minas Gerais native, loves having coffee with friends.

Adriana Martins is a Speech Therapist, graduated from the Estácio de Sá University in Rio de Janeiro. Postgraduate in Spoken Voice Disorders and Psychomotricity.

He worked for 5 years in the education of children with hearing impairment, in the public education system of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Adriana also worked as a speech therapist for 7 years in her own office, until she moved to the United States.

He graduated in Zen Shiatsu in 2003 from the Academy of Oriental Medicine, and works in the field to this day.

He was part of the Brazilian Culture program for Projeto Brasil.

She is a Portuguese consultant for the company Intisun Training and Language Services. Adriana loves dance and music. She takes daily walks and rides a bike in her spare time.

She has been a volunteer with Austin Partners of Education since 2007, and Austin Children's Shelter since 2011.

Renata Garanito was born in Rio de Janeiro, lived in São Paulo for 5 years and moved to Austin in January 2022. She holds a Master's and PhD in Business Administration and has worked as a researcher and professor at public universities in Brazil.

With the birth of her daughter and the move to Austin, she found in Projeto Brasil the opportunity to return to the classroom and do what she loves most: teaching and learning.

In her spare time, Renata likes to swim, ride her bike, watch TV series and walk with her family.

Raquel is from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. She graduated in Social Sciences in 2005, and soon after completed a postgraduate degree in Education Management, both from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

Her connection with education was always present throughout her professional career. She served as a sociology and history teacher for students from the 5th grade to the 3rd year of high school. In addition, a few years before moving to the United States, she worked as a manager in the field of qualification and improvement of servers at UFRGS.

Currently, she is dedicated to the studies of Portuguese as a Language of Heritage. At Projeto Brasil, she started as a teacher in 2020.

She loves traveling with his family, riding a bike, and listening to music.

Priscila Hargett was born and raised in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará, until she was 18 years old, when she moved to the United States in 2008. She is now a home educator for her two daughters in Springfield, Missouri.

Graduated in psychology from the College of the Ozarks in 2013, Priscila has always identified with early childhood education. With years of classroom and online experience, Priscila has worked with children from preschool through high school.

After having her daughters, she discovered the importance of Portuguese as a Heritage Language, an important tool in their teaching. Priscila is super excited to start working with Projeto Brasil.

Laura Junqueira is from the small and picturesque Antônio Prado, in Serra Gaúcha, where she grew up seeing in practice the process of acquiring a heritage language, with the Italian dialect still spoken in everyday life throughout the city and region.

He started studying English at the age of 7 and has taught English to children since he was a teenager. Her passion for languages ​​and cultures led her to study Spanish, French and Mandarin, and to participate in a year-long exchange program in the US at age 16.

He graduated in Foreign Trade from the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), starting his corporate career in Brazil and continuing it in the US after moving in 2010. During this period, he also worked with technical and academic translations.

Motherhood turned its attention to its own language and culture, and established plurilingualism within the home. In addition, motherhood fostered a new curiosity and passion for the study of child education and development. Since moving to Austin in 2019, Laura has devoted herself entirely to all these topics within her own family and working with organizations that promote them.

Roberta is from Rio de Janeiro and has lived in the US for 21 years. She has a degree in Pedagogy and is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Degree in School and Educational Psychology. She has been working as an educator in the field of early childhood education and elementary education since 1999.

Roberta is part of Projeto Brasil/Cultura Brasil's team of teachers and is very happy to have the chance to teach children and teenagers the Portuguese language and expose her students to Brazilian culture.

In her spare time, Roberta enjoys going to the movies, traveling, and doing yoga.

Anelise is from Minas Gerais, land of cheese bread. When she moved to Austin, she met Projeto Brasil and was delighted with the proposal to keep the heritage language now necessary for her grandchildren. 

She has a degree in pedagogy and neuropsychopedagogy with a master's degree in child and adolescent health at UNICAMP.  

She started her career as a teacher when she was in high school. She was always interested in seeing how children engaged in learning. She went through the coordination of schools in Brazil in early childhood education and elementary education. From 2000 onwards, she attended to children with learning difficulties, a subject that results in good memories.  

He really likes a good conversation, reading good books, watching period movies and having a coffee.

Patrícia is from São Paulo and has lived in the US since 2005. Graduated in Letters from Centro Universitário Fundação Santo André, she participated in the Plurall by BeM Heritage Language Teacher Training Program and is currently doing a postgraduate degree in Bilingualism at Instituto Singularidades.

She has been a PLE and PLH teacher since 2013. Mother of three German-Brazilian boys, she started reading books in Portuguese to her children and created a volunteer reading project for the Lusophone community at Princeton Public Library in New Jersey in 2005.

Patricia loves children's books, long car rides and coffee! She shares her love of books with the local community in her mini library across the street from her house.

Franciele Schambeck is an actress, clown and illuminator born in Passo Fundo. Graduated from the University of Passo Fundo, she continued her studies with masters in physical theater and clown work such as Ricardo Pucetti, Carlos Simioni, Naomi Silman and Ana Cristina Colla/ Lume Teatro, Eugênio Barba and Julia Varley/ Odin Teatret/ Denmark, Lina Della Rocca / Bridge of the Winds, among others.

Since 2010, as an illuminator for Grupo Ritornelo de Teatro and Teatro Além da Chuva, she has traveled through southern Brazil presenting shows for children and adults. His newest works include - IN PULSE - a performative action hand in hand with photography, creation, art direction and performance in the project “9inha, não!”, from the museology course at UFSC and the creation of a solo show of clown work directed by Ricardo Puccetti-Lume Teatro.

He is currently part of the Cabaré Pescoço-Continued Research of Clowns and Clowns, composed of artists from all regions of Brazil. Graduated from the course of the Instituto de Cultura Popular Brincante/SP, as an educator and performer of Brazilian processions and dances.