Lua Nova

Lua Nova (“New Moon”) was founded in 2000 in Sorocaba, São Paulo state, to address the needs of socially vulnerable young mothers and their children. With the mission of “recovering the self-esteem, citizenship, social space and autonomy of young women in risky situations,” Lua Nova engages in income generation, harm-reduction, and community development activities. Lua Nova has established gift making, construction and confectionery enterprises where trainees develop both work and life skills. EMpower‘s current grant is supporting Lua Nova to develop a special initiative aimed at building business skills, self-esteem, and financial and entrepreneurial independence among a group of young, at-risk women from São Paulo state.