Our work builds on more than a decade of collaboration among co-founders Joana Monteiro, Julia Guerra, and Laura Schiavon, whose careers combine academic research, public administration experience, and advisory work for international funding agencies.
In 2024, Leme — Laboratory for Violence Reduction — was formally established as a legal organization, consolidating its role as a public policy laboratory. We provide technical and strategic support to help decision-makers design, test, and evaluate safety interventions grounded in data and scientific evidence.
Through a problem-oriented approach, we translate scientific knowledge into concrete programs to address crime and violence. We build, alongside governmental and non-governmental institutions, innovative solutions that are responsive to local realities.
Brazil's traditional approach to public safety policy has been predominantly reactive, characterized by limited planning and lack of strategic focus. This model has contributed to persistently high levels of violence and a widespread sense of insecurity among the population.
We work in close collaboration with public institutions to identify concrete security challenges — such as robbery, domestic violence, and organized crime — to understand their root causes, design targeted interventions, and evaluate their impact using data and scientific evidence.
Academic organizations produce rigorous knowledge, but they do not always engage with government. Civil society organizations and public sector actors understand operational realities, but do not always use robust causal evidence. Leme operates at the intersection of these two fields, integrating academic research with the collaborative development of impactful solutions for public security.