Rodrigo Salvador

The percentage of the total population enrolled in higher education in Latin America is 52%. But only half of young people manage to graduate. The socioeconomic starting conditions are key to knowing whether a person will be able to finish higher education. Young business administrator Rodrigo Salvador is one of those lucky ones. In college, he saw the need for collaboration among students to improve the success rate of a growing student population in the region. 

The tool to connect students seeking to pass with people who have notes and produce study materials is the online study platform Passei Direto, created by Salvador. It is the largest online study network in Brazil, connecting more than 4 million content producers and students every month, Salvador explains. For this breakthrough in online education, Salvador has been selected as one of the winners of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2022 in Spanish. 

The platform allows the user to choose the knowledge discipline in which he or she is enrolled and shares subject content in an automated way. Creators of teaching materials are also rewarded with money for their efforts. It also connects people with common interests. Passei Direto is not only a repository of notes but also a social network for students who have been deprived of many options for socializing by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Thanks to this tool, students can help each other. Originally conceived for university students, Passei Direto helps and connects students of all levels. Salvador uses artificial intelligence to improve categorization, recommendation, and filtering of content and users. More than four million use its free version. "Its internal data show that 80% of its users improve their performance in their studies," adds the creator of Passei Direto. 

Already consolidated in Brazil, Salvador's next step is to expand its online tool to more Latin American countries such as Mexico and Colombia. Salvador launches Passei Direto in Spanish to improve the educational performance of the Hispanic American student population. The innovator concludes, "We try to create a positive impact on education. We get students to maximize their studies. It's been my dream since I was 17 years old."