I like to compare cross-cutting processes to interdependent biological systems. Let's take the forest as an example to illustrate this idea.
In a forest, there is what the eyes can see: an area of land covered by vegetation. There is also what the eyes cannot distinguish, such as the intricate chain of relationships between living beings and the soil, other organisms, and the environment, giving rise to a system known as the Wood Wide Web .
The forest functions like an interconnected organism, where each element plays a role. Studies show that older, healthier trees, known as mother trees, often direct extra nutrients to younger or weaker trees to maintain forest stability. Fungi, for example, establish themselves around the roots to "colonize" them, thus exchanging resources and nutrients, but also ensuring the trees' chemical defense.
This constant exchange not only keeps the forest healthy, but also demonstrates how life on Earth depends on collaboration and regeneration, even at the most microscopic levels.
Within this universe and its concepts, Biomimicry enters the intersection of society and the forest, being an area of science that seeks inspiration in nature to solve human challenges. More than copying forms, Biomimicry delves into the efficient and sustainable functioning of ecosystems, applying these principles to design, engineering, architecture, and technology, among other areas of knowledge.
Just as natural systems teach us to create solutions that respect the Earth's cycles, where waste from one process becomes a resource for another, at the Bem Maior Movement we adopt a cross-cutting and interconnected approach to our social investment portfolio . Our challenge is to understand how an ecosystem of 90 supported organizations can interact with each other, the social sector, and other spheres.
Just as in the forest it is impossible to separate sun and soil, in a portfolio it is impossible to separate investments in the grassroots level from investments in strengthening the social field or investments in education from investments in productive inclusion.
I will cite as an example the child who does not have access to a quality education. At first glance, we only see a child out of school, but what the eyes cannot see reveals a much more complex reality: the lack of school transport, the absence of food that guarantees their cognitive capacity to learn, and the impossibility of acquiring teaching materials because their parents are unemployed.
Furthermore, there may also be invisible traumas, such as compromised mental health from living in an environment of domestic violence and the insecurity of living in a territory dominated by organized crime. Between home and school, there is a web of obstacles that cannot be broken simply by access to quality education. There is a whole network of interconnected and structural social challenges that require collaborative and robust solutions to guarantee the basic right to learn.
By diversifying institutional support and adopting a perspective of interdependence among the different social causes in Brazil, a portfolio of private social investments can become a living organism, where each supported organization plays an important role in building the social change we aspire to.
That's why a cross-cutting perspective is so important: support for the Agbara Fund in promoting the productive inclusion of Black women directly relates to the research on the peripheries by the Pipa Initiative , which aligns with the purpose of Gerando Falcões , which is strengthened by the advocacy of the Alliance for the Strengthening of Civil Society , which in turn supports the work of other organizations, such as the iungo Institute Education for Kindness and Generosity platform , and The Human Project .
This cross-cutting and pluralistic approach that connects different areas of action not only strengthens the consistency and robustness of the social thesis of the Bem Maior Movement, but also highlights a fundamental premise: transforming Brazil requires a systemic and collaborative perspective at all levels. From the micro level, such as caring for a child, to the macro level, such as advocacy that shape public policies, each interconnected effort is an indispensable piece in creating a more just and inclusive country.
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