The Year of the Ant
Ants are fascinating due to their social and ecological characteristics, and this year they served as inspiration for Decah’s retrospective.
After all, such a complex and intense year demanded all the attributes that these small creatures teach us daily: strength, resilience and, above all, the ability to work in a network.
The strength to carry weights greater than ourselves manifested in the ability to support organisations at crucial moments of transformation. The patience to build step by step, even in the face of significant obstacles, allowed us to develop complex projects with lasting results. And most importantly, the ability to work in a network, where each connection strengthens the whole, helped us create bridges between different sectors and realities.
In 2024, Decah celebrates a decade of existence inspired by the power of small great transformations. Like ants — which despite their tiny size manage to erect complex structures through network work — we complete 10 years provoking significant changes through collective intelligence and the articulation of ecosystems. In one of the most challenging years of our trajectory, our ability to weave networks and build bridges allowed us to strengthen strategic partnerships and carry out transformative projects with organisations such as Greenpeace Brasil, Instituto TIM and Yunus Social Business, reaffirming our vocation to be small in size, but giant in impact when we act in collaboration.
A Decade of Transformations
Over these ten years of journey, Decah has consolidated its presence in the market by observing important movements that confirmed our thesis. On one hand, we saw the growing demand for impact reports and metrics, driven by new regulatory frameworks. On the other hand, we realised that many of these initiatives still lack true cultural and strategic integration within organisations. It is in this space between necessity and effective transformation that our work becomes most relevant.
From the beginning of our entrepreneurial journey, we always wanted to be small, yet highly articulated in a network to understand and facilitate the demands of our communities and entrepreneurial ecosystems that we helped co-found and grow. This choice proved to be correct over the years, allowing us to maintain the agility necessary to adapt our methodologies to different contexts and needs.
Our approach based on collective intelligence has allowed us to deliver more efficient results, more authentic value propositions, more integrated teams and more resilient anti-fragility strategies. Like ants that work tirelessly in their colony, we have learned that true impact does not come from the size of the organisation, but from its capacity for articulation and the authenticity of its purpose.
But perhaps the most important learning from this cycle has been the confirmation that we are far beyond the point where most give up on collaborating. While some try to “take the ball under their arm” and solve problems alone, we maintained our conviction in the strength of networking and the importance of truly caring about who is at the table — and also who is not.
This decade has taught us that true transformation happens when we combine:
- Patience to build lasting relationships
- Courage to co-create and innovate
- Ability to adapt without losing essence
- Genuine commitment to collective impact
2024 Highlights
The year was marked by transformative projects that reaffirmed our ability to generate impact through network articulation and glocalisation of theories of change:
Greenpeace Brasil
For the second consecutive year, we supported the organisation’s strategic planning processes. In 2024, we facilitated the Board meeting and the integration immersion of managers and senior leadership to evaluate the plan’s development so far and reinforce agreements for the second half of the three-year plan. This work perfectly symbolises our approach: building together, respecting the identity and values of each organisation, while facilitating processes of significant transformation.
Instituto TIM
We had the satisfaction of starting a journey to help Instituto TIM and the TIM ESG platform find a powerful integrated organisation point. The project demonstrates our ability to create bridges between the institute’s activities and the company’s ESG strategies, generating greater integration and impact potential. We deeply believe in the need to reshape the role of corporate philanthropic organisations in Brazil. Our vision is that these institutions need to evolve to a model where they are intrinsically aligned with the core business of their sponsors, operating with a focus on unique objectives, supported by verifiable goals and strategic partnerships. For long-term sustainable impact, more focus and a more systemic view are needed.
Yunus Negócios Sociais Brasil
A special highlight was our invitation to facilitate not only the organisation’s local strategic planning but also support the construction of the global governance model of the GLTF (Global Leadership Task Force). In the last weeks of the year, we facilitated a 2-day meeting with YS Brasil, YS East Africa, YS Global leaders and the Transformation Team, for alignment of collaboration agreements, team building and governance for the next cycles.
Public Servant Training in Espírito Santo
In partnership with LAB.ges, we facilitated a Formative Journey for 50 public servants from ES, focusing on building stakeholder engagement strategies to improve public services. The journey, with a workload of 80 hours, involved 11 Secretariats that refined projects in four main categories:
- Instrumentalisation and knowledge management
- Network mapping and engagement
- Process management and improvement
- Participatory diagnosis
Market Trends and Challenges
As we move towards 2025, we observe significant trends reshaping the socio-environmental impact landscape:
The “Retrograde ESG” Phenomenon
We identify a paradoxical trend: whilst new regulatory frameworks (BR-EU) demand greater rigour in impact practices and evidence, retrograde movements emerge in some ESG agendas (also spearheaded by Trump’s recent election in the USA). This regression manifests especially in the abandonment of D&I agendas and areas, signalling a challenging period for maintaining genuine socio-environmental commitments.
Value Chain Challenges
Our experience revealed a complex panorama:
- Growing interest in B certifications and ESG practices, especially among communication agencies, live marketing and production companies
- Mismatch between discourse and practice: companies demand supplier adaptations but maintain draconian payment terms
- Medium and large organisations still lack structured policies and adequate knowledge in their purchasing processes to evaluate suppliers with ESG criteria
- Frequent reports of abusive experiences affecting the financial health and quality of life of entrepreneurs in the impact ecosystem
The COP in Belém Issue
The 2025 horizon brings the COP in Belém as a moment demanding special attention:
- Risk of an artificially produced “all for climate movement”
- Concern about superficial initiatives that do not consider the multiple forms of articulation and engagement necessary
- Fundamental question: “Do your impact agendas change by context and possibility of visibility, or do you have a robust, consistent and adaptable impact thesis in the long term?”
Necessary Updates in the Nonprofit sector
We observe an important correlation between:
- The pendular movement in ESG agendas
- The need for updating vocations and actions in the Nonprofit sector
- Significant challenges for organisations seeking to internalise impact principles in their strategies, operations and metrics
- The importance of decoding complexities and intersectionalities to generate effective transformations
This scenario demands from us an even more strategic and articulated performance, reinforcing our role as dialogue facilitators and bridge builders between different sectors and realities.
Our Evolving Methodology
The JOIAS (Journey of Innovation and Socio-environmental Improvement) continues to evolve, being adapted for different contexts and audiences. Now in version 2.0, it represents our commitment to continuous innovation and adaptability. This evolution was guided by practical learnings and the need to address increasingly diverse and complex contexts.
New Formats and Applications
The methodology demonstrated its versatility in different contexts:
- Training of public servants
- Strategic planning for international organisations
- Development of corporate ESG strategies
- Facilitation of global governance processes
- Articulation of multiple stakeholders in impact projects
Customisation and Adaptability
The evolution of JOIAS is also reflected in its capacity for customisation to different needs:
- Methodological adaptation for specific contexts, as we did with the focus on stakeholder engagement in the public sector
- Flexible pedagogy and collaboration to equip stakeholders from local organisations to international projects
- Maintaining the transformative essence of experiencing a community of practice and network culture whilst incorporating new elements and tools
This methodological evolution reflects our understanding that the timing of transformation is different for each organisation. Just as ants build their nests gradually, respecting environmental conditions, our work is to facilitate change processes that are both ambitious and sustainable.
Phygital Card Decks
One of the main innovations in development is the phygital card deck, which represents:
- A new way to make the methodology more accessible and tangible
- The combination of physical and digital for greater reach and effectiveness
- A tool that maintains the depth of the methodology whilst expanding its application possibilities
Priorities for 2025
For the coming year, our activities will focus on five strategic axes: deepening the integration between ESG and business strategies, focusing on building authentic practices and relevant impact metrics; expanding our JOIAS methodology with the launch of version 2.0 and new phygital formats; strengthening strategic partnerships that promote convergence between the third sector and corporate ESG agendas; developing more integrated impact strategists with network entrepreneurship skills; and preparing a consistent approach for the COP in Belém, promoting articulations that go beyond the “all for climate movement” and generate lasting impact.
Lessons and Learnings
As we complete a decade of operation, some lessons stand out as fundamental to our trajectory and future:
The Value Beyond Metrics
- Genuine impact work transcends traditional metrics and sustainability reports
- True value lies in the depth of transformations achieved
- The authenticity of relationships built is as important as quantitative results
- Success cases with our ecosystem of clients and partners demonstrate that alignment of values and purpose generates results that go beyond conventional indicators
The Strength of Being Small and Articulated
- Our choice to remain small, but deeply articulated in a network, proved to be correct
- In a market that often seeks growth at any cost, we demonstrated that it is possible to generate significant impact whilst remaining agile and focused
- The ability to adapt our methodology to different contexts — from the public sector to the third sector, from local to global organisations — is a direct result of this strategic choice
- Like ants, we discovered that our strength lies in collaboration, not in size
The Importance of Authenticity
- The current moment demands even more courage and commitment to systemic transformations
- In a scenario of “Retrograde ESG”, authenticity becomes even more crucial
- The ability to remain true to values even in moments of pressure for quick results
- The importance of building relationships based on trust and genuine commitment to transformation
- Reinforces our capacity for amorphous, expansive and adherent transformation
- And gives great tranquillity to walk amidst the cloud of cicadas that infests the impact market at this moment
Practical Learnings
- The timing of transformation is different for each organisation
- The importance of respecting the processes and rhythms of each partner
- The need to balance ambition and sustainability in proposed changes
- The value of building bridges between different sectors and realities
These lessons are not just theoretical reflections, but practical learnings that continue to guide our actions and evolution as an organisation. As we say internally: “We were not cowards in any aspect of our lives” — a constant reminder of our commitment to genuine and lasting transformations.
Our Future Commitment
The future we build together is one where each small action, when aligned with purpose and done in collaboration, has the power to generate systemic changes. As ants teach us, no challenge is too great when working truly in a network.
To our partners, clients and collaborators — Amon, Carol, Marcelle, Rodrigo, Matheus, Renato, Carol, Vitinho, Pedro, Isabel, Lívia, Pedro Telles, Leticia — our deep gratitude for being close, especially in one of the most challenging years personally and professionally. We feel cared for, supported, honoured and provoked to do more, better and with even more presence, care and complicity.
Like the ants that inspired our retrospective, we will continue to believe that true strength lies in collaboration, persistence and the ability to build something greater than ourselves. With each new project, each new partnership, we reaffirm our commitment to a transformation that is both profound and sustainable.
Every year we choose a soundtrack for the retrospective. This year’s song is “Stab”:
Rio de Janeiro, end of century, the plate is hot
Several brothers retreat, go ahead
Several also enslave their minds
I know well, I break the chain
Where I pass, I plant my seed
Locusts never take from those who have
Predators, lords who lie
Wait seated for surrender
Our victory will not be by accident