--- description: Find out why Luiza Trajano is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Luiza Trajano: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta991001d8bb5aac2/698a1cb122fb856d64e2c85c/luiza-trajano-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Luiza Trajano by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva  Luiza Trajano Bruno Rocha—Fotoarena/Alamy Luiza Trajano Bruno Rocha—Fotoarena/AlamyBruno Rocha—Fotoarena/Alamy In a business world still dominated by men, a Brazilian woman, Luiza Trajano, has managed to make Magazine Luiza, which started as a single store in 1957, into a retail giant worth in the tens of billions. It’s a major accomplishment—one among many. When COVID-19 arrived in Brazil, killing more than 580,000 Brazilians and causing a recession, Magazine Luiza helped small businesses adapt to digital commerce by providing a platform for them to sell and deliver their products. At a time when the Brazilian federal government was [downplaying the risk](https://time.com/5840208/brazil-coronavirus/ "undefined") the pandemic posed, Luiza courageously spoke about the urgency of vaccination. She has also been a vocal advocate for equality, creating Mulheres do Brasil, a nonpartisan group of more than 95,000 women working to build a better society, and support victims of domestic violence. And, in late 2020, in an effort to promote inclusivity within Magazine Luiza, she launched a trainee program offering opportunities to [Afro-Brazilians](https://time.com/5915902/brazil-racism-quilombos/ "undefined"). In a world where billionaires burn their fortunes on space adventures and yachts, Luiza is dedicated to a different kind of odyssey. She has taken on the challenge of building a commercial giant while constructing a better Brazil. [_Lula_](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685%5F1984864%5F1984866,00.html "undefined") _is a former President of Brazil, from 2003 to 2010_ Luiza Trajano Is on the 2021 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096054/luiza-trajano/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096054/luiza-trajano/"},"headline":"Luiza Trajano","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:19:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:13.084Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096054/luiza-trajano/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta991001d8bb5aac2/698a1cb122fb856d64e2c85c/luiza-trajano-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta991001d8bb5aac2/698a1cb122fb856d64e2c85c/luiza-trajano-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096054/luiza-trajano/","name":"Luiza Trajano"}}]}] ```