The success of LOLA Brazil and becoming a recognized non-profit
LOLA chapters are growing worldwide, and LOLA Brazil continues to be one of LOLA’s fastest-growing regions with 14 Chapters throughout 11 states since its initial launch in 2018.
How it started:
LOLA Brazil’s President, Cecília Lopes, first came across the Ladies of Liberty Alliance at LibertyCon 2018 in Washington, D.C. where she immediately fell in love with LOLAs efforts to address the shortage of women in the liberty movement. She launched the first Chapter in the city of Rio de Janeiro with great success. “When we announced that LOLA was coming to Brazil, a lot of women from all over the country were interested,” Cecília shares, “being able to expand LOLA so quickly is a direct result of both the hard work of the ladies I was able to recruit early on and LOLA’s inspirational vision.”
Cecilia has dedicated herself to building a space for women in the liberty movement dedicated to libertarian ideology. Today, LOLA Brazil has various libertarian leaders including a Board of Directors and State Chapter Leaders working to grow their groups and spread the ideas of liberty.
With a community of over 300 members, LOLA Brazil reports that more than half of its members are coming to the ideas of liberty for the first time through LOLA.
How it’s going: LOLA chapter leaders elected to public office
LOLA Brazil is making great strides in creating real change within their community. Six members of LOLA chapters in Brazil have won city council elections under Brazil’s libertarian party- NOVO. Six have been elected under the NOVO Party of Brazil, which is a classical-liberal party founded in 2011. These councilwomen are responsible for holding higher executive powers accountable, including overseeing budgetary decisions, urban regulations, school systems, and aspects of the healthcare system. While LOLA doesn’t support candidates or political parties, we do recognize these women leaders and encourage all women to continue to find leadership roles within their local communities to advance the principles of liberty.
LOLAs pictured with councilwomen. Cris Monteiro (center). 
Elected councilwomen join together over Zoom.
LOLA Brazil is on track to become a recognized non-profit
On January 23rd, LOLA Brazil held its first official assembly, in order to grow and legitimize the chapter as an official non-profit recognized by the Brazilian government. This is an exciting step for the chapter: moving forward as a non-profit organization will allow LOLA Brazil to cast a wider net and reach more women within the country. Establishing this recognition is no easy task, requiring a grueling bureaucratic process and a massive amount of signatures. To date, they have acquired signatures of 38 Ladies of Liberty who are now founding members.
The current political climate in Brazil is propelling individuals to question government overreach and look to the principles of liberty. LOLA Brazil is filling a necessary need, and we celebrate the work of these influential leaders to continue fostering a community of like-minded women dedicated to spreading the ideas of liberty.
Meet some of the leaders of LOLA Brazil:
Dalila Lisboa Rodrigues– “LOLA is important because we bring the points neglected by the movement for discussion, showing that we can expand the liberty movement to different demographics. We created a space where women can discuss their opinions about economics, politics, and beyond while both encouraging and training leaders. Before LOLA came to Brazil, Brazilian women did not have a space like this.”
Izabela Patriota– “Before LOLA I felt alone. I was made to feel that since I identified as a feminist I had to follow the common socialist feminist agenda and being a socialist was necessary to be a feminist. It was like there was no room to disagree or debate in the Brazilian feminist movement. My favorite part of my role with LOLA is definitely having the chance to tell women the diverse kind of solutions classical liberalism has to deal with women’s issues.”
Marina Zonis- “I think my favorite part of being a chapter leader is the networking. I love getting to know new people and through LOLA, I managed to get to know lots of interesting people from the libertarian movement and also incredible women in general. During the pandemic, we shifted LOLA São Paulo’s events online. Right now, our goal is to continue spreading the message and staying connected while we can’t see each other.”
Cecilia Lopes- “The absence of women in the Brazilian liberty movement is enormous. research shows that only 11.7% of the movement here is composed of women. LOLA Brazil is not only important to change this terrible ratio, but also to build a more respectful, comfortable and friendly environment to classical liberal and libertarian women…I’m glad to be a part of it!”