Célia Cruz, who sits on the Board of the ELAS Fund, received the 2017 ABCR Award at a ceremony held on the evening of May 18. The ABCR Award identifies and recognizes excellence in fundraising in the country.

 

There were four categories in which winners were announced and received their trophies. Célia Cruz was the first to receive the Emeritus Fundraiser award, given by ABCR's Board of Directors to professionals who have contributed to the development of the profession and ABCR itself. She received the trophy from the current Chairman of the Board, René Steuer.

 

Other awards went to the "Family, God's dream" campaign by the Militia of the Immaculate, represented by Nathalia Silva Pinto (Best Direct Mail category), the Ronald McDonald Institute, with its "McHappy Day" campaign (Best Fundraising Event category) and Luciana Patrícia de Moraes Botelho, from the Lar de Maria Charitable Institution (Fundraiser of the Year category).

 

The ABCR Award is an ABCR initiative created in 2016, and in its second year it had five volunteers as its Selection Committee: Natasha Aleksander, Manuela Holtz, Rachel Anon, Rodolfo Ohl and Sonia Bonici.

 

 

Célia Cruz is a member of the Instituto de Cidadania Empresarial (ICE) team and was Director of Ashoka Canada, Managing Director of the Ashoka Global Fellowship and Director of Ashoka Brazil and Paraguay. She worked at the Institute for the Development of Social Investment (IDIS), where she coordinated the Doar Program for community development for two years, with the vision of implementing community foundations in Brazilian cities. Célia created the fundraising consultancy Philantropics in 1994 and worked as Director of Institutional Development at the Getulio Vargas Foundation's School of Business Administration (EAESP/FGV). Célia has a degree in economics from FEA/USP and a master's degree from EAESP/FGV. She has taught fundraising and social entrepreneurship courses at various schools such as EAESP/FGV, FEA/USP, SENAC, FOS and various programs in Brazil.