April 22, 2025

Domitila Barros

A voice for education and empowerment and patron of ReGen4futures.org

With our ReGen4futures movement, we want to inspire and empower people around the world for sustainable and regenerative development through education and networking. To this end, we are developing the ReGen.rocks platform and offer free, interactive online learning courses on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs) and the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) - practical, motivating and inspiring. Instead of just imparting knowledge, we focus on motivating methods and strong role models that make sustainability tangible. Young people should not only learn, but also take action themselves in projects (project-based learning) - through stories that encourage and activities that have an impact.
No one could serve as a better role model for this mission than Domitila Barros. Her life story combines exactly what ReGen4futures wants to convey: education as the power to improve one's own life and that of the community, and sustainability at the heart of every decision. We are delighted to have Domitila Barros as the patron of ReGen4futures and ReGen.rocks.

She inspires - not just with words, but with deeds. Born in the favelas of Recife in Brazil, she has been committed to helping disadvantaged children since her childhood and continues to campaign for education, sustainability and social justice worldwide. As the founder of a sustainable fashion label, she shows that style and responsibility do not have to be mutually exclusive. And as a speaker and activist, she brings important issues to where they need to be heard.

Domitila Barros is many things: entrepreneur, speaker, actress, model, Miss Germany 2022. But if you really want to understand her, you have to look back to her childhood in the favelas of Recife, Brazil.

Childhood in the favela - roots of strength

Domitila Barros grew up in difficult circumstances in a small favela in Recife, Brazil. She experiences poverty, insecurity and the daily struggle for survival from an early age. But she learns just as early what solidarity and hope mean. Her parents run a social street children's project that offers disadvantaged children a place of refuge. To protect Domitila from the omnipresent violence on the streets and to give her a creative outlet, they send the seven-year-old girl to a local theater and dance school. There, surrounded by music and drama, Domitila discovers the power of creativity. Every dance lesson and every little play becomes a ray of hope for her - a way to escape the harsh reality of the favela with imagination. Domitila's parents attach great importance to education as the key to a better future. Inspired by her family environment and her own curiosity, Domitila began working in her parents' street children's center at the age of 13. While other young people from her neighborhood are struggling to survive, Domitila teaches younger children to read and write. She comes up with lots of ideas: She develops short plays from simple texts and acts them out together with the children. Learning should be fun - that is Domitila's motto. In these moments, she forgets the confines of the favela and sees the shining eyes of her "pupils" as proof that education can change lives. For her, every syllable learned, every sentence written is a small victory over the hopelessness felt by so many in her neighborhood. 

Detours to Germany - education as the key to success

Back in the favela, Domitila continues on her path undeterred. "You won't leave home until you have your degree," her father says firmly time and again. Domitila takes these words to heart. She is studying social pedagogy and completing a bachelor's degree. Getting there is not easy - she often has to fight against prejudice and organize scholarships and part-time jobs to finance her studies. But Domitila never gives up. Her parents' belief in her and her own determination to achieve even more one day drive her on every day of her studies. With her Bachelor's degree in her pocket, Domitila takes the next step: she leaves Brazil to continue her education in the wider world. As a model, she has already traveled to various countries and learned to find her way in new environments. Now she is drawn to Europe - more specifically to Germany, the country where she has heard that education is highly valued. In Berlin, she begins a Master's degree in Social and Political Sciences at the Free University. Everything is strange at first: the language, the climate, the culture. But Domitila remembers Orlando, the people who encouraged her back then and her family back home. "I feel at home wherever there are people who believe in me," she says to herself. With this attitude, she quickly makes contacts, finds friends and mentors who support her. She works hard for her Master's degree - and succeeds. Domitila has proven that education can be the key to overcoming boundaries. Now a successful graduate, she lives in Berlin and has long since felt at home in two worlds - Recife and Germany.

A global voice for sustainability

Domitila's heart beats not only for education, but also for social justice and environmental protection. As a young woman in Berlin, she begins to pool all her talents to stay true to her mission: to make the world a little fairer and more sustainable. She works as an actress and model, but only ever sees these stages as a means to an end - as a platform to spread important messages. In 2022, Domitila Barros will be crowned Miss Germany, the first woman of color to win this title. Unlike in beauty contests of the past, it is not just outward appearance that counts here, but above all her vision and personality. Domitila makes clever use of the big stage: In front of an audience of millions, she speaks about climate protection, educational equality and the power of innovation for sustainable development. Her title makes her heard - and she fills this audience with content that is intended to change the world. At the same time, Domitila is expanding her profile as an influencer for sustainability. On social media, she shares insights into environmentally friendly living, raises awareness of social grievances and motivates her now well over 100,000 followers to take action. Authenticity is important to her: Domitila shows herself as she is - sometimes cheerful, sometimes thoughtful, but always honest. She says openly: "It's not about getting lots of likes, but about getting the right likes - from people who really stand behind what I do." Via Instagram, Facebook and the like, Domitila has become a greenfluencer, a green influencer who reaches young people in particular. Her message: sustainability is not an abstract concept, but can become part of everyone's everyday life - through small decisions that make a big difference. 

From social media to social entrepreneur

Domitila also founds her own projects outside the digital world that combine innovation and sustainability. One example is her fashion label "She Is From The Jungle", which she launched a few years ago. This social entrepreneurship project produces sustainable jewelry and fashion - made by single mothers from Domitila's home favela. They earn a fair income for their families, while 10% of the proceeds go back into the street children's project in Brazil. This closes a circle: what began as a small lesson in the favela is now an international social enterprise. Domitila proves that innovation can serve the community. Her work has already received numerous awards, from UNESCO and local sustainability prizes to inclusion in Forbes lists as a role model for sustainable entrepreneurship (Role Model Sustainability). But despite all this, she remains humble: "Every person I can help, every young person I can get to rethink, is the real win for me," she often emphasizes. 

ReGen4futures.org - A mission continues globally

 In 2025, Domitila's journey reaches a new milestone. Her values and tireless commitment become part of our global movement: ReGen4futures.

And thus also part of our e-learning platform ReGen.rocks, with which we enable young people not only to understand the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, but also to actively help shape them. Education that creates meaning, encourages and triggers real change - that is our goal. We are delighted to have Domitila Barros as our patron, who impressively embodies what ReGen.rocks is all about. 

All about our educational concept and our vision.

Let's change the world together - with education, courage and cohesion.