Camila Valadão
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Camila Valadão | |
|---|---|
 | |
| State deputy of Espírito Santo | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2023 | |
| Councilwoman for Vitória | |
| In office 1 January 2021 – 1 January 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Camila Costa Valadão 29 August 1984 |
| Political party | PSOL |
| Alma mater | Federal University of Espírito Santo (PhD) University of Havana (PhD) |
Camila Costa Valadão (born 29 August 1984) is a Brazilian social worker, feminist activist, and politician. She was elected as a councilwoman in the city of Vitória, in the state of Espírito Santo, for the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) in 2020. She became the first Black woman on the city council. She was later elected as a state deputy in Espírito Santo in 2022.
Valadão was born in 1984 in Serra. Her political career began with the students' movement even before she enrolled at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), where she studied Social Services in 2004.[1] She took part in the Free Academic Center of Social Services (CALSS) and the Central Students' Directory (DCE). During this time, she participated in mobilization efforts to various causes such as politics related to state and national education, protests against the increase in the cost of public transport, and for the demarcation of land for the Tupiniquim and Guarani peoples in Aracruz.[1]
After graduating, she became a social worker and was the president of the Regional Council of Social Services (CRESS), along with being a member of the State Council of Human Rights (CEDH), supporting various causes such as the fight against proposals for mandatory hospitalizations.[2] She also was a member of the Capixaba Youth Observatory (OSCIP), founded in 2012 by researchers, activists, and young people of different educational backgrounds in Espírito Santo. She was Coordinator-General of the Proteção de Jovens em Território Vulnerável (Protejo) project, developed mainly in the Feu Rosa and Vila Nova de Colares neighborhoods of Serra, as part of the National Project of Public Safety with Citizenry (Pronasci)[3] and also participated in the Lethal Violence against Adolescents and Children Program (PRVL), coordinated by the Favelas Observatory.
All the while, she furthered her academic career, earning a master's and doctorate in Social Politics from UFES. Her master's dissertation on the public politics for the youth in Espírito Santo.[4] She completed her doctoral thesis on social politics during the transition to socialism in Cuba after the revolution.[5] Her research would include an additional doctorate from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Havana in Havana, Cuba. She went on to become a substitute professor at the Department of Social Services at her alma mater, UFES.[6]
She began her political career by running for different offices, always as a part of PSOL. In 2014, she was a gubernatorial candidate in Espírito Santo, finishing in fourth place with 1.1% of the vote. Two years after, she became a candidate for city councilor in Vitória, becoming the fifth most voted candidate. PSOL, however, did not have enough votes to hit the electoral coefficient for candidates from the party to be able to take office.[7] In 2018, she ran for office again to become a state deputy, but was not elected. In 2020, with new electoral laws in place, Valadão increased her vote share in relation to the minimum required vote share for the city, with 5,626 votes, the second most voted candidate, guaranteeing her a seat. Thus, she became the first Black woman elected to the Municipal Chamber of Vitória,[8][9] as well as the first person from PSOL elected in the state.
In 2022, she was once again a candidate for state deputy, being elected with the fourth highest number of votes in state, with 52,221 votes as part of the PSOL-Rede Federation. She became the most voted woman in the state's state assembly elections, passing the record set by Sueli Vidigal in 2002, who received 36,500 votes.[10]
