Meet Juliana Cantele. She is one of 46 members of Expansion International's Team Pamoja. We love her, and we know you will too!
Juliana is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For the past twelve years, she lived worldwide until she landed here in Boise a little over a year ago. Brazil is deep in Juliana's heart and has also given her compassion for areas of the world that face poverty. "Growing up, I always shared what I had with the poor in Brazil. I would give donations and my time. When I started working and doing better financially, I was still in contact with Brazil's poor, so I was always naturally helping out."
At a networking group, Juliana first learned about Expansion International when she met Amie, Expansion's Donor Engagement and Stewardship Manager. As she heard about Team Pamoja, she felt inspired to get involved. "I went to this networking group thinking about helping my business, but then I learned about Expansion International and got really excited! Hearing about Team Pamoja and this half marathon brought back something – giving back and doing my best to help other people."
Juliana was one of the very first to sign up for Team Pamoja. Then, she asked five of her Amherst Madison coworkers to sign up. She explained that when you believe in something, “It is contagious! Since I love what Expansion International does, the combination of being healthy and taking care of myself, plus having a purpose behind it, it was so easy to share this with my friends and coworkers. I got them excited about it too. I could see people getting motivated by my motivation!"
Way to go, Juliana, Arden, Robin, Derica, Daniela, Daphne, and the rest of Team Pamoja for crushing 13.1 miles at the Famous Idaho Potato race this past weekend! You are rockstars.