Since 2022, Thalyne Malta has been a standout participant in MRIF’s programmes in Brazil. Born in Manaus in Brazil’s North region, Thalyne is a bisexual woman who completed Cohort 9 of our LGBTIQ entrepreneurship training. She then joined our second Business Acceleration programme and was later selected for the Micro Rainbow Fairs project, where she produced the Amazônia Criativa fair.
As a Cohort 9 student, Thalyne presented an exceptional business plan and received a seed grant to invest in her LGBTIQ+ shop, Dona Bicha. Quickly recognised as more than a successful entrepreneur, she emerged as a local mobiliser and leader. During our Acceleration programme, she created Empregay, a collective of activists and entrepreneurs committed to advancing income generation for marginalised LGBTQI+ people. In 2023, with funding from MRIF and partner organisations, she launched Feira Empregay: the first LGBTIQ entrepreneurship fair in the North of Brazil.
Amazônia Criativa
Determined to keep on increasing work opportunities for other queer women in the state of Amazonas, Thalyne produced another fair, Amazônia Criativa, in March 2026, after receiving R$18,000 from the Micro Rainbow Fairs project for LBTQI women. Applying the learning she gained from MRIF, she delivered a high-impact event: about 800 visitors, nearly R$18,000 in sales for 24 vendors, and strong exhibitor mobilisation and programming. The event also generated more than R$10,000 in income for 13 LBTQI women responsible for artistic performances, security, and logistics support. Held in front of the iconic Teatro Amazonas, one of the most prestigious theatres in the country, the fair also featured the two top-earning vendors among the 85 participants in the project’s first phase.
The fair blended local culture and female engagement, featuring folklore and artistic performances, as well as workshops on badge-making and bio-jewelry, which combined tradition and innovation. Thalyne reinforced her commitment to tackling gender-based violence and promoting women’s empowerment through a panel discussion on financial autonomy and a self-defence workshop for attendees.
Vendor wellbeing and income generation were central to the event’s planning, reflecting Thalyne’s own journey from market stallholder to fair organiser. She recruited vendors from other towns, waived participation fees, provided stipends, and ensured comfortable working conditions and meals. To address regional supply shortages, she organised an exchange of equipment and sales tools among exhibitors.
Moreover, Thalyne secured key public partnerships, including the Municipal Secretariat for Women, Social Assistance and Citizenship (Semasc); the Amazonas Agency for Cultural Development (AADC); and the state Secretariats of Culture and Creative Economy (SEC) and Justice, Human Rights and Citizenship (Sejusc). These partners provided bottled water throughout the event, 13 tents, authorization to use the theatre space, complimentary electricity, and a modest financial contribution of R$700 toward the fair’s production.
“The cherry on top”
“I usually say I’ll take every opportunity Micro Rainbow offers, but this course was the cherry on top—what I needed to complete my entrepreneurship journey,” Thalyne says. The fair-production training MRIF offered proved pivotal, enabling Amazônia Criativa to outperform a previous event Thalyne organised with nearly three times the budget, highlighting how targeted capacity building can maximise impact.
As an activist and entrepreneur, Thalyne regards MRIF as an organisation that “genuinely supports small entrepreneurs, as it should”, offering not only funding and courses but ongoing, tailored guidance, making a real change in beneficiaries’ lives. She consistently praised the team’s care and welcoming approach as a standout feature of MRIF’s work.
Thalyne has become the kind of leader this project seeks to cultivate: someone who organises events, manages resources, shares knowledge and methods, attracts audiences and income, forges strategic partnerships, mobilises communities and – above all – supports small entrepreneurs. She is becoming a key reference and focal point of support for the LGBTIQ+ community across Brazil’s North.
