I'm Luiz Fernando Toledo,

Brazilian journalist, researcher and instructor based in London, with a proven track record of producing and managing impactful projects related to Brazil.

My reporting has been translated into various languages, reaching thousands of readers in Brazil and abroad.

The first video is a BBC podcast interview presenting an investigation into fake alcohol sellers on social media. If the video doesn't load, watch it on YouTube.

Reporting Impact

Stories I wrote sparked a federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's sexual enticement network in Brazil, exposed a former president's misuse of public funds, uncovered a bid fraud that saved R$ 15 million from a city's budget and enabled the shutdown of companies involved in illegal activities.

Training

Attended world-class conferences as instructor in Brazil, USA, UK, Portugal, Malaysia, Sweden and others. Trained over 2,000 journalists through online and in-person workshops.

Research

Masters degrees in Data Journalism (Columbia) and Public Administration (FGV‑EAESP). Research-assistant at POLIS‑Cambridge (2024–2026). Former research fellow at Oxford (2021), Columbia (2022–2023) and NED (2023–2024). My research was used by the government to improve transparency policies.

Civil Tech

I enjoy testing different technologies to improve my investigative reporting process and to help other journalists. This has included founding a data journalism consultancy at Columbia University in 2023 — Datafixers — and, later, a series of small scraping and data collection projects for various journalistic purposes.

See some of these projects below ↓

Investigative Reporting

Sexual abuse in Brazil's military schools
BBC News Brasil

Sexual abuse in Brazil's military schools

Our investigation reveals that at least nine girls aged 11 to 13 reported inappropriate touching by a military monitor in a public school, raising broader questions about oversight and the civic-military model.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
How fake bottle caps and seals fuel Brazil's counterfeit alcohol market
BBC News Brasil

How fake bottle caps and seals fuel Brazil's counterfeit alcohol market

This investigation dismantled a network of over 10,000 people selling bottle parts for beverage counterfeiting and triggered a police investigation.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
Giant Amazon fish turned into luxury handbags – but who profits?
BBC News Brasil

Giant Amazon fish turned into luxury handbags – but who profits?

The thick, patterned skin of the once-at-risk pirarucu fish is in demand for high-end fashion, but the fishermen want more money.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
Secret Budget Amendment Linked to Slave Labor
BBC News Brasil

Secret Budget Amendment Linked to Slave Labor

Investigation reveals how a budget amendment supported by Chamber President Hugo Motta funded construction using stones produced by workers in slave‑like conditions.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
Brazilians Face Abuse in Irish Meat Industry
BBC News Brasil

Brazilians Face Abuse in Irish Meat Industry

Exclusive investigation exposes precarious working conditions and abuse faced by Brazilian workers in Ireland’s meat processing industry.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
Indigenous objects containing animal parts are freely sold online
UOL

Failed enforcement: indigenous objects containing animal parts are freely sold online

A 2‑month investigation into animal feather smuggling and how companies benefit from exploiting indigenous communities in Brazil.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
Political Backing Fuels Land Grabbing in Brazil's Distrito Federal
Revista Piauí

Political Backing Fuels Land Grabbing in Brazil's Distrito Federal

In the Distrito Federal, Brazil, a significant issue of land grabbing in conservation areas is emerging, intensified by political support. These activities are particularly rampant in the Colônia Agrícola 26 de Setembro, a settlement approximately 26 km from the Palácio do Planalto, housing around 35,000 residents.

Read the original Read in English — interactive
A world heritage site under attack in Brazil
Revista Piauí OCCRP

A world heritage site under attack in Brazil

Brazilwood is being driven to extinction by an industry not often associated with organized crime: classical music. Tests on a sample of the confiscated wood show it was logged in a protected forest.

Read the original Read in English — interactive

Other reporting examples

From earlier newsrooms — select one to see additional stories not featured above.

Initiatives I've led

2022 – present

Datafixers

Founder
  • US$100,000 grant from the Brown Institute for Media Innovation (Columbia University)
  • Gabo Prize 2024 — environmental coverage with InfoAmazonia
  • Best data project in Brazil 2023 — Open Knowledge Foundation
  • Published with ICIJ, OCCRP, BBC; supported Washington Post (Pulitzer finalist) and Al Jazeera
  • datafixers.org ↗
2019 – 2024

Abraji

Director for FOIA projects · Advisory board
  • National research on Brazil's Lei de Acesso à Informação
  • Contributed to training 2,000+ journalists in workshops
  • This FOIA work earned the Oxford RISJ fellowship
2019 – 2023

Fiquem Sabendo

Cofounder · content director
  • Nonprofit specialised in public records requests
  • Year-long project on presidential corporate-card spending triggered investigations against current and former presidents
  • Câmara dos Deputados Transparency Prize 2022
  • Cited in 1,000+ stories by other newsrooms
present

Jeduca

Director · course co-creator
  • Co-created a course taken by 1,000+ journalists and students
  • Travelled to several Brazilian states giving in-person workshops to students on education journalism

Video reporting

Short-form video reporting for social media

Interviews

Bellingcat's Stage Talks

I was interviewed by Bellingcat to discuss how to use public records and data to investigate environmental crimes in Brazil. Held in English.

Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC)

Panel discussion on investigating environmental crimes at GIJC 2023 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

SBT News

Discussion about transparency and investigative journalism in Brazil.

TV Globo/G1 Podcast (O Assunto)

Podcast discussion about corporate expenses investigation.

FIL Lisbon Conference

Presentation about DataFixers.org at the Lisbon International Fair.

CNN Brasil

Interview about air charter investigation and transparency in government spending.

Awards and Honorable Mentions

Research & fellowships

  1. 2019–2021
    FGV-EAESP
    MS Public Administration (full scholarship)
    FOI research adopted by gov.
  2. 2021
    Oxford · RISJ
    Trust in News fellow (6 months)
    Course for 300+ journalists
  3. 2021–2022
    Columbia University
    MS Data Journalism (full scholarship)
    Datafixers founded here
  4. 2022–2023
    Brown Institute
    Media Innovation fellowship (Columbia)
    US$100k grant → Datafixers
  5. 2023–2024
    NED
    Reagan-Fascell fellow — AI in investigative journalism
    AI chatbot & reaction simulator
  6. 2024–present
    Cambridge · POLIS
    Research-assistant — Prison Consensus Project
    Ongoing

Scholarships and Grants

  • 2024Together for Conservation (EJN, 2024)Earth Journalism Network
  • 2022Person of the Year 2022 – Brazilian American Chamber of CommerceBrazilian American Chamber of Commerce
  • 2021–2022Columbia Journalism School (US$ 91,500 in tuition) 2021/2022Columbia University
  • 2020ICFJ Latin America Grantee 2020 – FOIA – Brazil and US projectICFJ
  • 2019Instituto Ling’s Visionary Journalist US$ 60,000 scholarship (2019) – Jornalista de Visão Hidden secret Instituto Ling
  • 2018ICFJ Emerging Leaders Program / fellow 2018ICFJ

Projects & Courses

Data tools & dashboards

ELECTIONS · 2024
Government plans database
Keyword search, topic analysis and plagiarism detection across 15,000+ mayoral candidates' plans.
ENVIRONMENT
Environmental fines (Ibama & ICMBio)
Search and filter environmental infraction notices by name, state and period.
CONGRESS
Parliamentary amendments
Track Brazilian parliamentary amendments by lawmaker, party and destination.
TRANSPARENCY
FOI requests tracker
Monitor freedom of information requests and response rates across Brazilian federal agencies.
POLITICS
Basômetro
How often do Brazilian lawmakers vote with the government? Interactive voting tracker.
TRANSPORT
Aircraft register
Search aircraft ownership records in Brazil's civil aviation authority database.
MEDIA
Media citations dashboard
Track how stories are picked up and cited across Brazilian news outlets.
REPORTING TOOL
Multi-database search
Search a name across multiple Brazilian public databases simultaneously.
AI TOOL
News reaction simulator
AI-powered tool that simulates how different audiences might react to a news story.

Courses & workshops

Udemy Portuguese 🇧🇷
Investigate public spending with the Brazilian Freedom of Information Act
4.6/5 · 428 students · 1.5 hours
View on Udemy
Abraji Portuguese 🇧🇷
Kit de Ferramentas Gemini para Jornalistas
Free initiative by Abraji with Google support — video tutorials, prompts, AI agents and workflows for investigative journalists.
Read more
Jeduca · Abraji Portuguese 🇧🇷
Jornalismo de Educação: Bases para a Cobertura
Free online course covering evaluation systems, data analysis, AI tools and source development for education reporters. 11 sessions.
Read more