Clara Bois, Program Director
/Los Angeles, United States
Clara is passionate about using bottom-up participation to deepen democracy and promote inclusion and equity. At People Powered, she leads the development of our resources and capacity-building support, helping governments and organizations broaden public participation.
She grew up in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, one of the first cities in the country to implement a comprehensive system of democratic participation in budgeting, urban planning, and policy-making. Clara is a former research associate of the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) and previously managed participatory processes for housing policy-making and urban planning in Brazil. She holds a master’s degree in architecture and urbanism from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a master’s in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focused on how local Brazilian housing movements have used participatory arenas to change policy and fight for housing justice.
At People Powered, Clara leads our work to create resources and capacity-building activities that move governments to adopt, expand and improve equitable and inclusive participatory democracy programs.
When she's not working, Clara is hiking around the city in search of magical places.
