Vera Cordeiro

Vera Cordeiro, MD, "is founder and CEO of Associação Saúde Criança Renascer (ASCR), a nonprofit organization based in Rio de Janeiro. Renascer’s mission is to assist children released from Lagoa Hospital, one of Rio’s largest public hospitals, by breaking the cycle of poverty, illness, hospital admission, readmission, and death and by creating the basis for improving families’ well-being and economic self-sufficiency. A graduate from Rio's Federal University, Dr. Cordeiro worked at Lagoa Hospital from 1978 until 1998, where she founded the psychosomatic medicine sector. She was elected as an Ashoka fellow in 1992, Avina leader in 2000, and Schwab Social Entrepreneur in 2001. She currently serves as a member of Ashoka’s board of directors. In 2003, Renascer received the Global Development Award for the most innovative NGO in the world. In 2006, Renascer won a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship."


 * Chair, PATH