A pioneering initiative in the country, ELAS+ Giving for change was founded by five activists from various social and cultural movements. Created to support groups led by women and trans people who had no access to funding, mainly due to racism and LGBTphobia, it was officially launched on August 30, 2000, after the "Women: Social Responsibility and Financial Resources Seminar", promoted by the feminist organization CEMINA - Communication, Education and Information on Gender.

Tendo como fundadoras Amalia Fischer, Izabel Cristina Ferreira, Madalena Guilhon, Neusa das Dores Pereira e Raquel Martins Silva, o ELAS+ atendeu à demanda urgente de grupos informais de mulheres. Um de seus principais diferenciais é, desde a sua fundação, facilitar o acesso desburocratizado aos recursos para as mais diversas organizações de mulheres e pessoas trans de todo o país. 

In the beginning, it was called the Ângela Borba Fund. In 2005, we expanded the tribute to this important feminist to all Brazilian women, adopting the name ELAS Social Fund. In 2021, the Assembly, the Council and the Board decided to go one step further by adding a + sign to the brand: ELAS+ Giving for change . The aim is to reaffirm our commitment to diversity, multiplicity and social change, as well as to make visible the arrival of three new members of the Board: a black trans man, an indigenous woman and a black trans woman. We like to think that the + sign is a butterfly that will take the organization further into the future or a star that will never cease to illuminate its path towards a fairer world.

The fund began investing in organizations with the first call for proposals, which supported 14 organizations, totalling R$50,300.00 in funding. ELAS+ Giving for change has grown, evolved and learned a lot over the years with Brazilian women and trans people. It has increasingly gained the trust of partners and women's organizations. Our most recent call for proposals, Building Movements 2022, invested the largest amount in its history: around R$8 million in flexible resources, based on the certainty that they know where to invest. The initiatives selected are always aligned with our priority causes:

Angelita

ELAS+ Giving for change fondly remembers a campaign it ran in 2006 to get individual donations. On that occasion, Angelita was born, a piggy bank, so that women could save money and support other women. The collaboration of artists - Alessandro Jordão, Kiko Sobrino, Carlos Araujo, Cristiane Rodrigues, Christina Oiticica, Daniel Azulay, David Dalmau, Eduardo Ventura, Gabriel Nehemy, Gustavo Rosa, Miguel Paiva, Paulo Barros and Romero Britto - was fundamental. Each one created an Angelita and donated it to ELAS+. The talent of these Brazilian artists became a reality through the hands of Bia Duarte, from B Licenças Poéticas. The Angelitas were distributed by businesses in various districts of Rio de Janeiro and, through the organizations they supported, reached various regions of Brazil. With Angelita, we show women how we can support each other, acting as true agents of social transformation.

The little pigs were exhibited at an event at ELAS+ and you can get to know each of them in the images below: