Sociologist and Ph.D. in Education (Universidade Federal Fluminense - Brasil / ICS - Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal), Maria Pereira is a researcher in the fields of youth, art, culture, and education. She was the director of the Brazilian organizations Brazucah Produções and Praga Conexões (2006-2024), through which she created a set of arts-based educational interventions and coordinated networks of young people from different social backgrounds. She directed and produced a number of internationally recognized social documentaries, including 'Black Bird' and 'Returnees'. Currently, as a researcher fellow at IADC she is dedicated to investigate the role of youth activism towards child safeguarding.