RenovaBR alumni Ronilço Guerreiro is a councilor in Campo Grande (MS) and holds the position of 3rd secretary of the Board of Directors of the City Council. Reelected in the 2024 elections, the professor became known as the “Councilor of Books” for promoting initiatives in the areas of education and culture in institutional politics. 

Born and raised in the region of “Vila Seca”, now Jardim Oracília, Ronilço started working at the age of 12, with the intention of helping his family. When sharing his story in interviews, he says that he was not always an extrovert during his childhood and adolescence, and often felt inferior, linked to his origins. 

It was through his experiences at work that he realized that he wanted to transform his reality and found the possible path to do so in education. A psychologist by training, Ronilço is also a teacher, speaker and trained as a Coach by the Brazilian Coaching Society, working as a specialist in improving people's quality of life. 

In politics, Ronilço developed several projects to democratize access to books in his city. 

They are:

• Comic Book Library More Culture: a space with more than 20 thousand comics and countless books to read on site 
• Bookshelves in Bus Terminals: traveling project to make books available at street fairs in Campo Grande. 
• Parish of the Book: traveling project to make books available at street fairs in Campo Grande. 
• Vanteca and Reading Bike: adapted vehicles that distribute books around the city.
• Book Square: an open-air library with recreational areas and a sports court, aiming to combine sports with literature and promote community integration. 

'Books don't change the world, books change people. People change the world'. Mário Quintana's phrase is cited by the councilor to exemplify his objective with politics. 

“This is the focus of our work: transforming people so that they are able to change their reality, their region, be the protagonist of their stories and fight for their dreams. The book has this transformative power”, says Ronilço Guerreiro.

Training at RenovaBR 

Ronilço first ran for city council in 2020, the same year he graduated from RenovaBR. The school expanded his political training, which was already present in his experiences as a student leader during university.

During his term, he authored important projects that became laws, such as the card for priority care for people with fibromyalgia, free transportation on the day of ENEM and other entrance exams for public universities, and transportation for wheelchair users in the home-school-home program. Re-elected, he continues with the same mission.