SÃO PAULO, Brazil — As the United States grapples with polarization, declining trust in institutions, and questions about democracy's future, some Brazilians are pursuing an unconventional strategy to strengthen civic life: training better political leaders before they ever run for office.
One organization at the center of that effort is RenovaBR, a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative founded to prepare citizens for public service, educate prospective candidates, and support elected officials throughout their careers. The organization describes its mission as promoting "political education as a path to renewal" to help create a more qualified, representative, and effective political class.
During a recent visit to Brazil as part of the Brazilian Blueprint—an intercultural civic-learning initiative organized by Stories Change Power—I met with many organizations working to strengthen democracy from the ground up. Renova BR stood out because it treats political leadership as a discipline that can be taught, studied, and improved systematically.
Its curriculum focuses on public policy, governance, political communication, campaign management, and democratic institutions, preparing future public officials while encouraging broader civic participation. Unlike traditional candidate-recruitment programs, RenovaBR does not align with a single political party. Instead, it develops leaders from varied ideological backgrounds who share a baseline commitment to democratic values, ethical conduct, and effective governance.
In the United States, leadership initiatives typically focus on civic engagement, campaign mechanics, or party-specific recruitment. Few operate at RenovaBR's scale or explicitly frame political leadership as a democratic skill to cultivate formally—a philosophy that carries renewed weight as Americans look past the midterm elections and toward 2028.
When I asked what specific steps RenovaBR has taken to rebuild public confidence amid widespread skepticism, Gabriel Morais, Director of Institutional Relations, emphasized that effective leadership requires understanding citizens' needs rather than merely pursuing political power.
“RenovaBR was founded in 2017 in response to widespread dissatisfaction with politics in Brazil," said Morais. "Our conviction is that rebuilding public trust requires political leaders who listen to people, act ethically, and have the skills to turn public needs into effective policies. Over the past nine years, we have pursued that goal through four main areas of work.”
To execute this mission, the organization operates across four core pillars:
Broadening Leadership Access: Offering tuition-free educational programs to welcome individuals from diverse professions, regions, and social backgrounds—including those who previously never considered running for office.
Vetting for Democratic Values: Using a thorough selection process, including background checks and interviews, to ensure candidates are committed to ethics, transparency, inclusion, and continuous learning.
Continuous Skill-Building & Support: Providing practical training in governance, accountability, and ethical conduct that extends beyond election day through ongoing peer mentorship and professional development for elected officials.
Cross-Ideological Dialogue: Serving as a nonpartisan platform to train leaders across the democratic spectrum, fostering collaboration and constructive problem-solving across opposing viewpoints.
These efforts have yielded tangible results. Since 2017, RenovaBR has trained over 3,600 citizens, and more than 400 alumni have won public office since the 2018 electoral cycle. In the 2026 general election, 47 RenovaBR-trained leaders were elected in the first round alone, spanning 14 political parties across 17 Brazilian states.
“We recognize that rebuilding public trust is a long-term effort that depends on many institutions and actors. Our contribution is to prepare leaders to earn that trust through their everyday conduct: listening to the people they represent, making informed decisions, working across differences, and being accountable to the public," he said.
I also explored how Brazil's approach to training leaders differs from the United States' and what American civic organizations might learn from a model that prioritizes political pluralism over party loyalty.
“As a nonpartisan organization, RenovaBR’s model involves training people from across the ideological spectrum and from multiple different backgrounds together, in the same classroom, teaching them how to collaborate with each other constructively,” Morais said. “American civil society organizations could learn from this model and encourage future leaders with opposing viewpoints to work together and overcome polarization.”
While traditional political training often occurs within partisan silos that limit exposure to differing perspectives, bringing leaders together in shared spaces teaches them to negotiate, disagree respectfully, and collaborate—an approach especially relevant as both nations navigate deep political divisions.
Finally, I asked whether Brazil's recent experiences with democratic backsliding had reshaped how the organization prepares future leaders.
“The pressures Brazil’s democracy has faced have strengthened our conviction that institutional resilience depends, in part, on the commitment and conduct of the people who serve in public office,” Morais explained. “Leaders need both the skills to develop effective policies and a clear understanding of their responsibility to uphold democratic rules, including when those rules produce outcomes they disagree with."
“We want the leaders we train to advocate firmly for their ideas while recognizing the legitimacy of political opponents and respecting the institutions that allow democratic competition to take place. Preparing people to govern also means preparing them to exercise power responsibly, accept its limits, and remain accountable to the public.”
These insights highlight a central lesson from Brazil's democratic renewal: strong institutions matter, but so do the people who staff and lead them.
As Americans continue debating electoral reform, civic engagement, and institutional resilience, organizations like RenovaBR offer a compelling thesis. Democracy is not preserved solely through laws, courts, and elections—it is equally sustained by investing in the character, preparation, and standards of the people who choose to serve.
That may be one of Brazil's most vital lessons for the United States.
Hugo Balta traveled through Brazil, reporting on how the country's efforts to strengthen democracy, expand civic participation, and address environmental challenges may hold valuable insights for the United States.
Balta is executive editor of The Fulcrum, publisher of the Latino News Network, and twice president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He is an accredited Solutions Journalism and Complicating the Narratives trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network.
