Anna Virginia Balloussier

Anna Virginia Balloussier is a journalist and deputy editor-at-large at Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s most influential newspaper. Founded in 1921, Folha has the biggest circulation among quality newspapers in Brazil and is regarded as the leading print daily news vehicle in the country. The media company that publishes Folha also airs UOL, the world's largest website in a non-English language.

She joined the newspaper in 2010, chosen in a competition involving more than 3,000 candidates. Since then she has worked with some of the best professionals in Brazilian journalism in news stories and analyses in areas as different as the economy, domestic and international politics, and arts & culture. She has been a special correspondent to Brazil's 2010 presidential elections covering then candidate and current president Dilma Rousseff.

She has also worked at Jornal do Brasil and Rolling Stone, and at Folha she was part of the editorial team of Monica Bergamo, Brazil's most influential political columnist, as both reporter and deputy editor. She is currently the deputy editor of Sãopaulo, Folha’s Sunday magazine, one of the paper's most prestigious supplements. Since last October, Anna Virginia has joined Folha’s select blogger team. She writes about religion, focusing on the relationship between politics, media and the church.

Anna Virginia is 26 years-old. She attended UFRJ, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, founded in 1920. She holds a BA in journalism and has received many awards for her academic papers on cultural identity in the contemporary world, especially the shifting identity of African immigrants.

Anna Virginia's pro bono work includes leading the "Cinerama" project, a free film club showing premieres of contemporary Brazilian cinema to low income "Favela" communities.

Apart from her work as a journalist, she is presently pursuing graduate studies in social sciences at the University of São Paulo – Latin America’s top ranked university. Her academic interests include economic and political governance and institutional-building at the multilateral level, contemporary governance of political parties and the internationalization of transparency laws. She also focuses on how South-South cooperation initiatives, such as those involving the BRICS, may become new international organizations.