I’ve been working in community development for over ten years now. In 2012 I co-founded my own non-profit called BANTU Philippines combining 2 of my passions: Capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian art) and development work. I started working with a bare handful of youth and children on the street and have over the years have built our organization up to working with hundreds of young through different government and non-governmental organizations in different parts of the world. I’m currently developing ways to more effectively combat poverty using Capoeira as a bridge for building workplace skills in at-risk youth and finding them meaningful employment opportunities. Our work has been endorsed and received awards from different government organizations including the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and the Embassy of Brazil in Manila. We’ve also been featured in various local and international outlets including UNESCO Southeast Asia, CNN Philippines, the Folha de São Paulo in Brazil and on ABC News in Australia.