Áurea Carolina is a Brazilian activist, popular educator, and social scientist. She has a life journey dedicated to the defense of the causes of women, black people, youth, traditional peoples and communities, and peripheral populations. She is an active voice in the movements against predatory mining and for cultural rights. In 2016, she was elected councilwoman of Belo Horizonte by the left-wing party PSOL together with the civil society collective Muitas, having the highest vote in the city. In 2018, she was elected federal deputy for the state of Minas Gerais – the most-voted woman in that state. In 2019, she was recognized by the Most Influential People of African Descent as one of the 100 most influential young black people in the world, in the category of Politics & Governance. In 2022, Áurea decided not to run for reelection and collaborated with President-elect Lula’s transition team to recreate the Brazilian government’s Ministry of Culture. Áurea is currently the executive director of Nossas.