Brazil has experienced a quiet revolution in recent years. Between 2001 and 2011, GDP per capita increased by 29% and the poorest 20% of people saw their income grow seven times as fast as the top 20%. Brazil also reduced by half the number of people living in poverty – in half the time expected. In this chapter, the man at the helm of this remarkable transformation – Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva – explains how this was enabled by a democratic decision to put social policy at the heart of the country’s development strategy. The flagship Bolsa Família (Family Stipend) programme transferred cash to low-income households in exchange for enrolling children in school and ensuring regular medical check-ups and vaccinations (conditional cash transfers). The programme has benefitted an entire generation by helping to break the vicious circle of poverty. The country is now focusing on the last bastion of poverty – the extreme poor – through the strategy called Brazil Without Extreme Poverty Plan. Brazil’s move to reshape its development shows how aligning social and economic policies, transferring cash to poor families (97% to women) and offering public services to those who most need them can have multiple benefits, but that courage and determination are required in choosing such a path.