NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

André Albuquerque, Terra Nova’s founder, is a lawyer, with a degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná. He presided over the Housing Company of Pinhais in the metropolitan region of Curitiba. André has consulted for the World Bank on Housing issues. In 2008, he was selected as an Ashoka fellow and was recognized by the Schwab Foundation and the Folha de São Paulo as Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Andre is member of Folha’s Socio-Environmental Entrepreneurs Network.

Terra Nova, a for-profit social enterprise, is the first Brazilian firm to specialize in gaining land tenure for slum dwellers of privately held urban areas.