Rodrigo Mendes Cavalcante

CEO @ Instituto Phomenta

About

🧭 A curious and communicative young leader from Goiás, non-practicing engineer, and firm believer in a more equitable world. Currently, I am the CEO of Phomenta, a social enterprise that supports and connects nonprofits, grantmakers, foundations, and companies eager to create meaningful change in their communities and causes. 🔖 My Journey I was born and raised in Luziânia, GO, a city near Brasília, the Brazilian capital. At 18, driven by the dream of studying at one of the country’s top universities, I moved to Campinas, SP, far from my family and friends. My curiosity led me to engage in extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and internships across sectors before completing my undergraduate degree. These experiences helped me develop leadership skills and project management abilities, crucial in my professional journey. I gained practical experience through these activities and completed my bachelor degree, including a fully-funded exchange program at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, supported by a Brazilian government scholarship. During this time, I realized that my achievements were not just the result of my efforts, but also the privileges and opportunities I had through education. When I discovered the social enterprises and nonprofits sectors, I knew that this was where I wanted to channel my energy. 🔖 My Journey at Phomenta In 2018, I joined Phomenta, a nascent social enterprise with a small team of five, as we were working to achieve product-market fit. I initially took charge of several acceleration programs aimed at supporting nonprofits in management and fundraising. In a short time, I was leading a team of 16 people, overseeing more than 10 programs. Simultaneously, I embarked on intrapreneurial ventures, developing new products and launching portaldoimpacto.com during the pandemic, which has since become one of the leading platforms for nonprofits in Brazil. In 2022, after structuring the marketing and data departments, and following the founder’s transition to the board, I assumed the role of CEO at the age of 28. Since then, Phomenta has achieved its highest impact and annual revenue: ∘500+ NGOs directly supported through our programs ∘12,000+ social entrepreneurs reached through our content platform ∘$3M+ in yearly revenue ∘20 active clients with a 90% renewal rate Other Milestones: ✔Facilitated 100+ workshops ✔Supported 100+ nonprofits directly ✔Finalist of the Valuable Young Leaders Award ✔Host of the "Podcast do Impacto" ✔Fiscal Council Member of the nonprofit Minha Campinas (2019-2023)

Country

Brazil

City

Campinas

Industry

Non-profit Organization Management

Skill

Gestão de projetos, Gestão de riscos, Gestão de inovação, Engineering, Pesquisa, AutoCAD, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Revit, Design thinking, Gestão, Liderança de equipe

Experience

CEO

Instituto Phomenta

2022-3 - Present · 4 yrs 7 mos

Phomenta is a social enterprise that supports and connects nonprofits, companies, grantmakers, and foundations to drive transformation in communities and causes. We facilitate spaces for connection and collaboration, offer training in management, fundraising and social impact to nonprofits, coordinate pro bono volunteer programs, and produce original research and content on the Third Sector. Over the past 9 years: 1,500+ nonprofits directly supported 2,000+ volunteers provided pro bono support to nonprofits across Brazil and Latin America. 12,000+ people accessing our portaldoimpacto.com monthly 40+ clients including grantmakers, foundations and companies

Host of Podcast do Impacto

Instituto Phomenta

2020-9 - 2023-3 · 2 yrs 7 mos

The podcast where I engaged in conversations about management, fundraising, and leadership with social entrepreneurs from the Third Sector (as we refer to the founders and leaders of nonprofits at Phomenta).

Social Impact Director

Instituto Phomenta

2020-4 - 2022-2 · 1 yr 11 mos

Head of Nonprofit Acceleration Programs

Instituto Phomenta

2019-9 - 2021-3 · 1 yr 7 mos

Since 2018 we accelerated more than 150 Brazilian nonprofits.

Nonprofit acceleration and pro bono programs Manager

Instituto Phomenta

2018-1 - 2019-9 · 1 yr 9 mos

Campinas e Região, Brasil

Design and implementation of Acceleration and Pro Bono Programs to enhance the impact of Nonprofit Organizations working as Project Manager. Project Portfolio Management and implementation of project management methodology.

Coordinator of the Continuing Education Course - Management for Nonprofits

Universidade Estadual de Campinas

2023-5 - 2023-12 · 8 mos

Innovation Intern

CPFL Energia

2017-2 - 2017-12 · 11 mos

Campinas Area, Brazil

https://www.cpfl.com.br/energias-sustentaveis/inovacao Main responsibilities: • Design the processes of the team responsible of searching new projects and creation of support templates; • Study the trends and new technologies in Energy Sector and look for new partners to R&D projects in the ANEEL program; • Support the project EMOTIVE - Electrical Mobility. The main objective of the project is to develop a Living Lab that enable to collect real information to study the impact of electric vehicles to the grid, the political and legal framework to spread the technology in Brazil and new business models. More info: https://goo.gl/U7MDvM (in Portuguese)

Summer Intern

Concessionária Rota das Bandeiras

2016-7 - 2016-7 · 1 mo

Itatiba - SP

Main activities: • Work plan measurement and layout update to produce a handbook for the engineers ; • Development of a Reference Term for the subcontractors on how to create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and scheduling; • Drainage project quantification.

Summer Intern

Shell

2015-6 - 2015-8 · 3 mos

Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam

Summer internship in the Project & Technology area, accompanying the expansion of the Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam (STCA) building. I gave support on several areas of the project, such as: Stakeholder Management, Financial, Security and Risk, Quality and Legal. I have also audited a project in Shell Technology Centre Hamburg, Germany along with 5 other people. During 3 days we have visited the site, conducted interviews with stakeholders and analyzed the documents from all the phases of the project. I was responsible of preparing the final report and presenting the findings.