Carmen Silva leads the Movimento Sem Teto do Centro (City Center Homeless People’s Movement”), a social movement in São Paulo that works to advance housing rights for families and individuals living in vulnerable conditions. Silva’s commitment to urban reform and social inclusion is rooted in her personal experience as an immigrant, mother, and social activist who has experienced homelessness. Her advocacy has included playing a leading role in Eliane Caffé’s docu-fiction film from 2016, The Cambridge Squatter (originally titled Era o Hotel Cambridge), which tells the story of a group of families that transformed an abandoned building in downtown São Paulo into a public housing complex.

Born Santo Estêvão, Brazil; lives in São Paulo, Brazil

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