Maria V. Rodrigues

Maria’s speciality is applying research from the social and behavioural sciences to assist organisations in better serving their clients. She has worked with the clients of Community Works to:

• Produce and test toolkit packages for international organisations such as StrongMinds and Amnesty International;
• Develop cross-cultural education programs for over nine Australian Award Fellowship programs on topics such as conflict engagement in mining contexts;
• Conduct literature reviews for development-related projects, publications, and strategic documents for VicHealth, the Mental Health Association of Central Australia, the Government of Western Australia, and the Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA);
• Provide critical advisory reports on governance structures with the aim of improving human rights outcomes, particularly for Indigenous peoples;
• Design and deliver evidence-based training programs on topics such as community engagement, participatory monitoring and evaluation, and conflict management.

Maria holds a BA in Psychology and a PhD in Applied Ethics. Her interdisciplinary doctoral research focused on ways of building ethical understanding across racial, national, and cultural boundaries. Principles drawn from this work apply readily to governance processes, education programs, training modules, and media productions. Her work has been published in a variety of books and journals, and has also contributed to international conferences, involving presentations in South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand and Kenya. Maria has also lived and travelled extensively in Southeast Asia, Japan, South America and India.