Bruna was raised in Florianopolis where she graduated from UFSC with a degree in Economics. Throughout her life, she was involved in academic research investigating the third sector, developing sustainability in small NGOs and capacity building in vulnerable communities in the Northeast of Brazil.
It was her passion for the social sector that led her to pivot her career from corporate finance and risk analysis at multinationals to nonprofits focused in education, where she managed projects that supported the education of students from families in socioeconomic vulnerability and ran programs to develop their professional and socioemotional skills in several Brazilian states. Bruna is committed to improving education for human development and social justice, and she is one of the head students leading the education debate in public policy at Columbia. Bruna was elected Communications Chair for SIPA’s 2020 Education Collaborative Board and is a fellow at the Education Sector Seminar and Practicum from Columbia Law School’s Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL).