Ítalo Cunha
Brazil
SFL SUCCESS STORY:
Ítalo Cunha
SFL Brazil
SFL alumni working to bring privatization and de-bureaucratization to São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in the entire southern hemisphere. Its population of 12 million people forms one of the largest urban clusters in the world.
To participate in the challenge of reducing government presence in a city of this size, SFL student leader Ítalo Cunha left Rio de Janeiro and decided to work in the City Hall of São Paulo, as part of an administration that promises to promote a broad program of privatization and de-bureaucratization.
Four years ago, Ítalo could have not imagineD where he would be now. An avid consumer of knowledge, he spent hours on the internet searching and reading about libertarian content. In one of his searches, he discovered Students for Liberty and enrolled in one of our leadership programs.
His work as a student leader led him to found the Club “Autonomia” with other leaders. His strong presence of spirit helped him become state coordinator for Rio de Janeiro, where he initiated a project to adapt the activities to the local culture.
Understanding the importance of good connections and fraternal friendships for the construction of a movement, Ítalo stimulated formal and informal meetings so that members could conduct academic debates and fraternize. In a short time, the state saw an explosive growth in student leaders.
For him, despite already being a libertarian when he started his work with Students For Liberty, it was only after becoming a student leader that he saw how he could “be more than my environment in Campo Grande [a poor city in the Brazilian state of Rio] showed.”
According to Italo, “The mission of SFL is to empower young students in defense of freedom, but it does much more than that. As someone who flew on a plane for the first time because I won a ticket from the organization, seeing the strength of the leadership and the individuals, I can say SFL changes the course of a lifetime, certainly adds more to freedom, and helps to empower students ”
Aware of what he was capable of doing, Ítalo sought and managed to be called to a vacancy in the Judicial Coordination of the São Paulo City Hall, helping the city to reduce the presence of the state in the lives of its inhabitants.
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