Mara Gabrilli

Mara Cristina Gabrilli, born in São Paulo, is a Brazilian psychologist, advertising professional, and politician, affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) . Mara holds degrees in psychology from Paulista University (UNIP) and in social communication - advertising and publicity from the Higher School of Advertising and Marketing (EPSM) .

In 1997, she founded the Mara Gabrilli Institute, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to support athletes with disabilities, promote and foster scientific research and social projects. In 2018, Mara Gabrilli was elected to represent Brazil on the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities , becoming the first Brazilian to hold the position. She is currently serving her first term as a senator for the state of São Paulo.

Political Career

In 2004, she ran for city council in São Paulo , receiving 11,917 votes but not being elected, becoming an alternate. From 2005 to 2007, she directed the Municipal Secretariat for People with Disabilities and Reduced Mobility, being the first person to hold that title. In 2007, she became a city councilwoman. In 2008, she was re-elected with 79,912 votes.

In 2014, she was elected federal deputy for São Paulo, with 155,143 votes, a position she held on two occasions. In 2018, she ran for the Federal Senate of Brazil, in the AceleraSP coalition, and was elected with more than 6 million votes.

In January 2023, he left the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) after nineteen years, joining the PSD.

Performance in the National Congress

The senator's platform focuses on defending health, people with disabilities, and sports.

Among his main achievements, the following stand out:

• She is the author of Bill 5901/2023 , which amends Law No. 13,146 of July 6, 2015 (Brazilian Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities), to integrate and coordinate the procedures for dispensing orthotics, prosthetics, and special materials, and to provide publicity and transparency to this process.

• She is the author of Bill 5771/2023 , which amends Law No. 8,069, of July 13, 1990 (Statute of the Child and Adolescent), to grant free public transportation to the companion of a newborn when taking the newborn to an examination or consultation, within the scope of the National Neonatal Screening Program, as well as for their return home after the appointment.

• She is the author of Bill 3461/2021 , which amends Law No. 13,146 of July 6, 2015, which establishes the Brazilian Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (Statute of Persons with Disabilities), to establish the National System for Certification of Inclusion in the Workplace and create the National Seal of Inclusion in the Workplace.

As a federal deputy, she filed 57 bills, 2 proposed amendments to the Constitution, and was the rapporteur for 17 bills. She is also the author of amendments to government projects, such asPRONATEC (National Program for Access to Technical Education and Employment), the National Education Plan, and those that guaranteed accessibility in new constructions under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life) program . In March 2012, she was the rapporteur for Provisional Measure 550/11, which grants credit for financing assistive technology products and services. In 2013, she was appointed rapporteur for the Brazilian Inclusion Law (formerly the Statute of Persons with Disabilities).

In the House of Representatives, she was elected Third Secretary of the Board of Directors (2015/16 biennium), the first time in the history of the National Congress that a woman has assumed this position. Mara also served as president of the Commission for the Defense of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Mixed Parliamentary Front for Comprehensive Care for People with Rare Diseases . In August 2015, as the sole representative of Congress, she was part of the Brazilian State delegation in Geneva at the meeting of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations (UN), and in June 2016, she attended the 9th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN in New York.

Furthermore, she was the rapporteur for the Brazilian Law on the Inclusion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.