Changing the next generation
For Silva, realizing her dream of representing Brazil at the Rio 2016 Olympics moved her to reflect on what her life could have been. At age 11, she was hanging out on the streets, trying cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol until her mother found out and moved her to a different school, where her life changed when she picked up judo.
“I realized I could be good at judo, so I started using my best Aline in sports. If it wasn’t for sports, I wouldn’t be here,” she says.
After two years of training, she switched to wrestling, becoming the first Brazilian to win a medal in the World Wrestling Championships.
With the hope of “giving meaning” to her story, she set up Mempodera, a non-profit in Sao Paulo, to give girls and young women sporting role models, facilities, and a positive environment.
“When I started judo, friends and family told me not to as it’s a masculine sport. When I became a good athlete, I heard ‘you’re pretty for a wrestler,’” she says, adding she wants to remove the gender norms that act as barriers to girls taking up sports like wrestling.
She hopes the organization can teach respect, trust, and teamwork while providing a sense of belonging.
In the lead-up to Tokyo 2020, with training hampered due to COVID-19 restrictions, Silva again reflected on her sporting journey. Growing up, she lived in a low-income community and, even after becoming an adult, she had problems managing financial matters.
“For me, money was always about struggle. Sometimes I knew I could have been doing better [with it],” she says.
With a desire for change, she drafted a social impact business model based on providing loans and financial education for budding entrepreneurs on low incomes. That plan is now becoming a reality thanks to the experience, insight, and contacts gained from her WABN mentor and mentees.