For many people, volunteering and giving back to their community is a big part of their identity. These people set out to make the world a better place. That’s why they are called changemakers and Daniel Morais Assunção from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil certainly fits that description.
But who is he and what makes him a changemaker? Morais holds a business administration degree from the University of São Paulo, he is a social entrepreneur, he co-created a refugee run language school, and is a co-founder of Casa Benjamina, a coworking space and parent-run daycare.
After three years of working in financial markets, Morais and three colleagues saw that there was a need for a different type of volunteering, according to an interview with Goodnet. They created a website to connect nonprofit organizations in Brazil. That was the beginning of Atados. But what exactly does it do?
What is Atados?
Atados connects nonprofits with people who want to volunteer. By 2012, Morais gave up his job to focus on Atados. They had 100 volunteer activities that year, but the nonprofits needed more help with organizing and recruiting then just a website. That’s when Atados started to teach NGOs how to work with volunteers.
Just one year later there were 5,000 nonprofits and 350,000 volunteers. But Morais didn’t know how this could be sustained. But the partners brainstormed and produced a plan to promote volunteer projects for companies to sponsor and run.
There is so much that can be done. “Atados inspires people by different ways to involve volunteers,” Morais told Goodnet.
One extraordinarily successful project with a refugee NGO was project Ahraco Culture or cultural hug which are language courses where the refugees are the teachers. The courses include French, English, Spanish, and Arabic. The volunteers are trained in the necessary skills to run language courses and include how to teach, how to communicate on social media, and how to be an administrator.
Involvement with Good Deeds Day
In 2015, Morais connected to Good Deeds Day through Points of Light (POL). This organization is based on the 1,000 points of life that was shared by former US president George HW Bush in his inaugural speech in 1989. His vision has been kept alive by the POL organization that operates through a global network of 4 million volunteers in 32 countries.
Brazil began participating in 2016. Morais said that Atados received a lot of support from Good Deeds Day, “We already had the volunteers, and GDD gave us ideas and mobilized people.”
While Good Deeds Day takes place once a year and was founded by businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison, Brazil celebrated its 10-year-anniversary over the course of a week.
There were 66 confirmed activities that focused on bringing in new volunteers and revolved around Atados partnering with other organizations around the country, according to a statement from Good Deeds Day Brazil. This is part of a National Strategy that was launched in January 2026, and Good Deeds Day was the time to demonstrate the strength of the volunteer network and the Brazilian people to come together to build community and help others in need.
This article was originally published on Goodnet and appears here with permission.
