Educator Antonio Carlos Gomes da Costa made countless contributions to Brazilian society. The professor, who passed away on March 4 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, was one of the main authors and defenders of Brazil’s Child and Adolescent Statute, as well as a consultant for the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) and for several other government entities, and he also worked on projects for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Winner of the National Human Rights Award in 1998 and author of several books, Costa helped train hundreds of educators, assisted important companies in terms of reflecting on their strategies in line with social and human development, and played a central role developing the third sector and private social investment.

A Partner of the Odebrecht Organization and Foundation, the professor is author of the books Ser Empresário – O pensamento de Norberto Odebrecht (“Being an Entrepreneur – the Thoughts of Norberto Odebrecht) and Protagonismo Juvenil – Adolescência, Educação e Participação Democrática (“Youth Engagement – Adolescence, Education and Democratic Participation”), the latter in partnership with Maria Adenil Vieira. He served as a consultant for the Odebrecht Foundation and supported for many years actions focused on the education of youth for life, through work, with orientations on values and limits.

Costa said that Odebrecht’s main challenge is the same as that of other business organizations: to increasingly cultivate and develop their intangible assets. “Organizations that do not understand this challenge and that do not work pro-actively toward it will be at increased danger at a time marked by the strong dynamic of the dematerialization of human work,” he said.