Pedro de Abreu is a Brazilian entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 and motivational speaker

Motivational speaker

A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...

. He is the founder of the Check Mate Foundation, based in of Columbia, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

.

Pedro moved to America from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 in 2005 without knowing English. After graduating from high school he moved to North Hollywood, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and co-founded Moofaces

Moofaces

Moofaces is a multimedia social networking website and an internet database for the entertainment industry. Moofaces provides tools for people involved in the entertainment industry to showcase and sell their work globally...

. In South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 he started the non-profit Check Mate Foundation teaching chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 to underprivileged children. Pedro is a motivational speaker represented by the Teen Speakers International Bureau, which also represents SuperJam founder Fraser Doherty

Fraser Doherty

Fraser Doherty is a Scottish entrepreneur from Edinburgh, CEO of SuperJam. He is also director of the registered Scottish charity, The SuperJam Tea Parties.-Charity work:...

. He has been named South Carolina's 2011 New Century Scholar by the Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa, also ΦΘΚ or sometimes PTK , is the international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs, particularly community colleges and junior colleges. It also includes Associate's degree-granting programs offered by four-year colleges...

and the Coca-Cola Foundation. De Abreu is also a leadership scholar at the University of South Carolina.