Leila Dreifus: “Having a good education means you’ll be able to keep learning for the rest of your life”

Hi Leila! What drove you to join 42 São Paulo in the first place?
Having given birth to my son just before COVID reached Brazil, I became a stay-at-home mother for almost two years. By the end of 2021, when I felt it was time to go back to work, a friend introduced me to Guilherme (a partner at 42 São Paulo), and I immediately fell in love with the project, the mission, and the impact.
Before 42, I had worked at some startups and a couple of big companies in Brazil, but I was ready to shift my career toward something more meaningful and impactful. 42 came to me as a great opportunity, and today I’m so happy to be part of it and help our students change their lives.

What do you think of the 42 method?
I might be biased, but I believe our method is one of the best to shape the best professionals. From what I’ve experienced, and what I’ve heard from our partners, our students are ready to tackle any problem. They also have the resilience, creativity, and teamwork needed to achieve any goal. This comes not only from the technical content, but mainly from our methodology.
Another thing is that anyone can learn through this method, you don’t need any background knowledge, you just need the will. That’s something really important here in Brazil, especially because of the social inequality.

What is your stance on what education should be today?
Education should be for everyone. Here in Brazil, good education has always been a privilege for people who can afford to pay for it, especially when it comes to basic education. And that’s not fair, and it’s not going to get us anywhere.
Having a good education also means you’ll be able to keep learning for the rest of your life, and that can take you anywhere you want. That’s what 42 achieves. So, in my point of view, we should focus on giving access to great education to anyone who wants it, regardless of their background. That’s our main focus here at At 42 São Paulo, our main focus is expanding access to students from underrepresented groups, including minorities, women, and individuals from lower-income communities.

42 São Paulo is blessed with a lot of diversity. What are the reasons behind this and your view on this topic?
We focus on attracting students from different backgrounds so that our campus reflects the same diversity we see in Brazil. Our goal is for our student demographics to reflect those of São Paulo. When that happens, we’ll know we’ve overcome real barriers.
All of our efforts to attract students are focused on underrepresented groups, through our ads, campaigns, Open days, and Discovery Piscines. Everything we do is about making sure they understand this is a good place for them to study. It’s a safe space, where they can learn and overcome their fears.

Thank you Leila, looking forward to hearing from you!