Claudia Werneck Arguelhes

Claudia Werneck - cwerneck@escoladegente.org.br 

www.linkedin.com/in/claudiawerneck 

Cláudia Werneck is a Brazilian journalist, writer and political activist born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, on May 11, 1957. She played a pioneer role in broadcasting the concept of inclusive society (UN, 1991) in Latin America. As a social entrepreneur from Ashoka – a worldwide recognized international social entrepreneurship network, which selects leaders who stand out for the innovation and impact of their ideas – she created the NGO Escola de Gente - Comunicação em Inclusão. As a winner of more than 100 national and international prizes and awards, she received two of the highest commendations of the Brazilian State: the "Human Rights Award" and the "Order of Cultural Merit".

From 2002 to 2022, Escola de Gente’s mobilization for the cause of inclusion reached more than one million people in 19 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania, as well as in 21 Brazilian states, including the Federal District. The NGO won six UN awards for the innovation of its projects in the area of inclusion of people with disabilities. In 2023, Claudia Werneck was appointed by the Minister of Culture to the chair of "artistic accessibility" of the National Commission for the Promotion of Culture (CNIC), the co-managing body of the Rouanet Law (a Federal Culture Incentive Law). She is the first person to occupy the newly created chair, for the 2023-2025 biennium. A graduate of UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), with a specialization in Communication and Health from FIOCRUZ (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz), Cláudia is a consultant for the World Bank and the Organization of Ibero-American States. In 2014, her story became an international case study on sustainability at the Centro de Conhecimento of Incae Business School, Costa Rica. In 2019 and 2021, she was part of the Working Group for the Systematization of Electoral Standards of the Presidency of the Superior Electoral Court, on the topic of accessible communication.

She is also the author of 14 books (by WVA Editora) for children and adults on inclusion and accessibility in Portuguese, English and Spanish, with more than 400 thousand copies sold. Her work "Inclusive Society – Who fits in your ALL?" became an international reference. In 2000, she became the first, and so far, the only Brazilian writer to have her work recommended by UNESCO and UNICEF, simultaneously.

In 1992, after working as a reporter, chief-report and chief-editor for important Brazilian magazines and newspapers for more than a decade, she left the media offices and began to travel throughout Brazil and to several countries in the Americas, Europe and Africa as a speaker, consultant and educator. Her main focus was to educate/train young people on how not to discriminate based on differences and inequalities. She has given more than 800 lectures. Cláudia has created award-winning educational, social and cultural methodologies, which are now freely spread around the world. She participated in the elaboration of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Brazil and abroad, as part of the official Brazilian delegation. Her inspiration comes from her expertise in the areas of "Inclusive Communication", "Inclusive Education", "Inclusive Culture" and "Accessibility for Sustainability".

Her work aims at keeping the media permanently qualified, calling on the media to expand its perceptions of the "place" of people with disabilities in politics, in the news and in everyday life.

Some of her won-awards:

 Child Friendly Journalist (UNICEF);

 Woman of the Year Award (Claudia magazine);

 Mulher Toda Coragem (Extra newspaper);

 Rio Sem Preconceito 3 rd Award (Rio de Janeiro City Hall);

 Carioca Nota 10 (Veja Rio magazine); Chiquinha Gonzaga Medal (Rio

de Janeiro City Council);

 Journalism Award for Socio-environmental, Citizenship and

Sustainability Issues (Chico Mendes Institute);

 São Sebastião Cultural Award (Archdiocese of Rio).

Cláudia has also received two honorable mentions from the Brazilian National

Congress:

 Mais Inclusão Award ("Personality"); and

 Darcy Ribeiro Education Award.