Izabela Patriota’s Mercatus Fellowship Story
From Brazil to D.C.: How Global Dialogue at Mercatus Helped Izabela Patriota Bring Classical Liberal Ideas Back to Brazil and Beyond
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he fellowship didn't just provide Izabela Patriota with monthly flights from São Paulo to D.C. for colloquia; it connected her to a global network of fellows and scholars who shared her commitment to liberty. Today, as Director of Development at the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, Izabela applies everything she learned; writing op-eds, engaging donors in substantive conversations about freedom, and bringing classical liberal perspectives back to Brazil.
When Izabela first arrived in Washington, D.C., she was alone and driven by her passion for classical liberalism. "I was a Cato intern in 2019. I had just moved to the US," she recalls. "The internship would only take four months, and I was looking for different opportunities because I was also a PhD student at the time and I wanted opportunities that would keep me focusing only in my studies."
The Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship is a one-year program that brings together graduate students from different universities and disciplines, including economics, law, political science, and public policy. Through collaborative discussions with peers and Mercatus scholars, fellows explore how the Austrian, Virginia, and Bloomington schools of political economy provide foundations for contemporary policy analysis and apply to real-world challenges like entrepreneurship, technological innovation, regulation, public health, and fiscal policy.
I really appreciated it because it was not only American oriented… it was nice to see that they were encouraging other problems to be discussed as well.
Izabela was accepted as a Frédéric Bastiat Fellow in 2020. Her reason for applying was clear: "I chose Mercatus because it aligns with my philosophy. I am a classical liberal. I see myself that way, philosophically speaking. So, I was studying a way to deregulate urban policies in Brazil, in my city, precisely. So, I chose Mercatus because it would give me, it would equip me with the right perspective."
The global nature of the fellowship stood out to Izabela. "I really liked to connect with the other fellows because there were fellows from all around the world," she said. "I really appreciated it because it was not only American oriented. It was nice to see that they were encouraging other problems to be discussed as well."
It really changed my life. I was discussing with the best professors in the field, with the best students in the world in the same room.
She remembered how rare it felt to talk about these topics with peers from her region: "We were talking a lot about what was going on in our region. So, it was very nice and putting in perspective something that's very rare in our region. All of this philosophy that we're trying to apply to our studies are very rare. We don't talk about it that often. So here it's very common to talk about it, there it isn't. So it's very new to bring those perspectives back home."
When asked about the atmosphere of the fellowship, Izabela was clear: "I think everything was very respectful and very open-minded. It was not about indoctrinating anybody. It was about discussing based on the philosophers that we had to read."
The fellowship's impact on her trajectory was profound. "It really changed my life," she said. "It was the real incentive to study in something that you really like and something that is so competitive. And yet I got it. I was discussing with the best professors in the field, with the best students in the world in the same room."
I still use all of the knowledge that I gained from the fellowship. I apply all of the philosophy that we studied here.
She also highlighted a key inspiration: "I really admire Professor Jayme Lemke. I think her perspective on women's issues is precisely what I believe. So, it was an honor to me, for instance, in 2021 when I shared the stage with her for an Atlas Liberty Forum in Miami."
Today, as Director of Development at the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, Izabela continues to draw on her fellowship experience. "I still use all of the knowledge that I gained from the fellowship," she said. "Even if I'm doing only development, I'm still engaging in conversation with our own donors. I still write op-eds. I apply all of the philosophy that we studied here."