With a career marked by defending the rights of workers and immigrants, Luciana Aparecida dos Santos transformed her work in the third sector into a mission of social and political impact. 

A career civil servant, with experience in national and international trade union organizations, she stood out as director of immigrants in trade union centers and at SINTRAM (Union of Municipal Workers of Divinópolis and the Central-West Region), where she worked to protect the rights of migrant workers in South America. 

The experience accumulated in NGOs, her higher education and postgraduate studies, in addition to her commitment to issues such as health, basic sanitation, inclusion and popular participation, make Luciana a leader engaged in the construction of more humane and inclusive public policies.

Highlight in the struggle and union movement 

In a journey that has been going on for some time, Alumni RenovaBR joined the union movement in 2012, when it became part of the board of Sintram, one of the most influential unions in the Minas Gerais region, with over 30 years of fighting for the rights of civil servants.  

It was from this space and movement in search of dialogue, acting in decisive moments for civil servants in the Central-West region, that Luciana won the presidency of the union, elected for the 2015/2018 term and reelected in 2019. 

In 2021, she was elected to one of the most important positions in the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of State Workers (Clate), a trade union organization responsible for representing public sector workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was there that Luciana headed the Directorate of Migrant Workers' Affairs, dedicated to caring for the fate of migrant workers in South America. 

The secretariat was developed after the Confederation itself carried out a study that demonstrated a significant growth in migrant workers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, who were looking for work outside their countries. 

The outstanding history of his term in office at Sintram, fighting for rights in the municipal public service, meant that his work in Divinópolis (MG) reached the State, being part of the list elected in the New Central Union of Workers of Minas Gerais and, later, assuming the international position at Clate. 

“Our mission is to present a migration perspective that preserves migrants’ rights, working towards the application of international migration standards, both from the International Labour Organization and the United Nations,” said Luciana when she took office. 

His career is a living example of what RenovaBR stands for: politics as an instrument of social transformation, built by people with real experience, commitment to the collective and the ability to dialogue. His work, which began at the union level and gained international prominence, shows how solid training, active listening to the population and the courage to face structural challenges can generate a concrete impact on the lives of thousands of people. 

By assuming an international role focused on defending the rights of migrant workers, Luciana brings with her values such as transparency, participation and efficient public service to one of the most urgent and humanitarian debates of our time: migration. Demonstrating that it is possible to do politics with purpose, connecting the local with the global, and paying attention to the reality of those who need it most.