Mobis is a nonprofit social impact organization addressing the lack of adequate civics education in Brazil. Mobis provides free, engaging and high quality education to educators and young people to build a more informed and conscious youth electorate. Mobis encourages civic engagement beyond voting, including care for the environment, participation in peaceful demonstrations, voluntary work and contact with elected representatives. Mobis formally launched in 2017 with a crowdfunding campaign. In 2019, Mobis started its Recurring Collective Financing Campaign, with an objective to enable any citizen to be part of their network and transform education. Currently, their operations are mostly financed by individuals through crowdfunding. Mobis was selected by Up for Good, an integrator that raises funds for nonprofits, as one of three organizations to receive funds from the Crossroads Rock Festival, which took place in July 2019. Gang, a young fashion brand based in Porto Alegre, also supports Mobis with a portion of revenue earned from products that are sold in their Bazaar of Good. In addition, volunteers have provided over 14,000 hours in support to Mobis’ programming.
COVID-19 Response
In response to the need for new virtual exchange spaces, imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mobis launched The Citizenship Educators Community, which supports remote connection, exchange and support for all educators engaged in citizenship education in Brazil. The initiative provides quality content and allows for the sharing of experiences and dissemination of pedagogical practices, enabling the continuation of civic education despite the health crisis. Additionally, Mobis launched a Facebook group publishing daily content on citizenship topics, hosted 16 online events with over 200 participants, and holds fortnightly meetings and trainings to identify best-of-breed practices to support local educators.
Theory of Change
Instilling civic values in individuals, particularly when they are young and just starting to participate politically, leads to an increase in social trust, helping public institutions become more effective.
Activities
Mobis has built a portfolio of nonpartisan and transformative learning experiences in citizenship. In 2015, the initiative ran a pilot program with 104 high school freshmen, in which small groups were tasked with solving a real problem in their community while learning about and applying rules and principles of Brazilian democracy. Mobis also ran Everyday Citizenship, a program that teaches the principles of Brazilian democracy by identifying problems within the school community and building solutions through democratic governance. In 2017, Mobis launched Agora, a group-based gamified learning experience inspired by the tragedy of the commons. Within a scenario-planning simulation, each participant uses the resources available to survive. They also provide two immersion programs to understand the Brazilian public sector and provide dynamic storytelling, profile analysis, and networking connections to encourage knowledge-sharing for professionals. Finally, the Multipliers of Citizenship program trains educators on how to teach civics in an engaging manner.
Results
Mobis has produced over 90+ hours of civic education content, reaching over 500 students and 330 educators in Brazil, achieving a high satisfaction rate among educators and students. Since 2019, Mobis has expanded its capacity to focus on establishing partnerships and implementing projects that support greater impact, engaging more than 100 monthly supporters and ensuring greater financial stability.
