Sueli Aparecida Carneiro

Sueli Carneiro is a renowned public intellectual, known as the “godmother of Black feminism” in Brazil. She earned a PhD in education from the University of São Paulo and is the first Black woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Brasília (2022).

In 1988, she founded Geledés – Instituto da Mulher Negra (Geledés— Institute of the Black Woman), the first independent Black feminist organization in São Paulo. The institute educates women on bodily autonomy and pushes for more female representation in the workplace. Geledés also provides physical and mental health support to Black women. Months after founding Geledés, Carneiro was invited to join the Conselho Nacional da Condição Feminina (National Council on the Female Condition) in Brasília.

Dr. Carneiro’s career has been punctuated by her participation in the international fight against racism and sexism. She was one of the key members of Brazil’s delegation to the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa in 2001, and she was one of the visionaries behind the 2015 Marcha das Mulheres Negras (Black Women's March) in Brasília.

Dr. Carneiro is the winner of numerous prestigious national and international awards, including the 2021 Kalman Silvert Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) and the 2022 Prêmio Jabuti for Literary Excellence (akin to a Nobel Prize for Literature in Brazil).

The author of thirteen books, including the groundbreaking Escritas de uma vida (2019), 12 research articles, countless op eds and public scholarship pieces, Dr. Carneiro is also often the intellectual voice of Brazil’s Black Movement and an inspiration to young Black feminists around the world.