Larissa Vieira

Tell us about yourself: Larissa Vieira is a lawyer and member of the Coletivo Margarida Alves de Assessoria Popular, an organization that provides legal advice to various social groups facing violent processes of political, economic and social exclusion and subalternization, in the countryside as well as in the city. Larissa has been dedicated to the fight for human rights for at least 13years. She began her work and studies in the defense of the urban rights of homeless families in the struggle for housing and urbanland regularization. As of 2012, she started acting as a lawyer in defense of families affected by large mineral extraction projects, in addition to working with traditional peoples and communities. She has also dedicated her studies to the socio-environmental area, having completed her master's and doctorate dealing with topics such as socio-environmental conflicts, environmental injustice and environmental racism. In addition to her work at the Coletivo Margarida Alves, she also worked in independent technical advisory organizations for those affected by major disasters, such as the rupture of the Brumadinho dam (in the middle and lower Paraopeba), in Minas Gerais. She has worked on consultancy projects on the subject of human rights defenders and on behalf of threatened quilombola communities in their territories and other peoples and traditional communities. Currently, she is dedicated to the study of gender and racial issues, as they are issues that touch her own life as a woman and black, but also the life and existence of most of the people assisted.

‍What did you do with the JWH grant? I enrolled in a specialization in Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Studies at CLACSO. In addition, it was possible to participate in the 9th Conference Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Ciencias Sociales at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City. I will also take language courses (Englishand German).‍

What has the leadership development program brought you? The scholarship brought me in-depth knowledge on essential topics for my work, such as the ethnic-racial issues,not only in public policies, but also a better understanding the racial context in Brazil and Latin America.In addition, it is expected that with the language courses it will be possible to improve skills and report the conflicts followed.

‍What is your dream? My dream for the future is to live in a fairer world in which people have their basic rights guaranteed to a minimum.

This leadership support has been made possible by the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA)