Mariana Ferreira has a Law Degree from NOVA School of Law and studies Human Rights and Democratization with a focus on international trade and human rights at the Global Campus of Human Rights. She is currently writing her thesis at the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Graz.

Mariana has been involved with different organizations from civil society related to human rights and sustainability and performed humanitarian work in refugee camps in Greece. She also collaborated with CEDIS- Research Center on Law and Society in the organization of several academic events related to the Sustainable Development Goals and was part of a one-year research project concerning access to education by migrant and refugee children promoted by Hope For Children– CRC Policy Center (Nicosia, Cyprus).