Success story: Ana Estela Haddad

ENAR

This article is part of an in depth special report on the Lebanese in Brazil. Read more stories as they’re published here, or pick up July’s issue at newsstands in Lebanon. Ana Estela Haddad is determined not to be defined by her husband. The wife of São Paulo’s mayor once resigned from a top job in the Ministry of Education when her husband got appointed minister. “I couldn’t work for my husband,” she laughs. Yet she admits it is a double-edged sword as her title now brings her opportunities to do the charitable work she adores. Currently she heads a program looking to improve early childcare for young people across São Paulo. The newly launched program aims to reduce disease among the city’s 800,000 children under six. “All the research shows that early child development is a very important period for children,” she says. While she defines herself as Brazilian