Denise Hirao is a Program Officer for Latin America at the International Women’s Health Coalition.

She is also a lawyer with over 10 years of experience working on human rights and women’s rights in Brazil and at the international level. In Brazil, she worked at law firms, at the Sao Paulo State Government and as a consultant in human rights and women’s rights projects. From 1998 to 2001, Denise was a Councilor of the São Paulo Women’s Council, a body that proposes and evaluates public policies for the state of São Paulo. At the international level, Denise was a member of CLADEM, the Latin American Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights, and worked at the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (Organization of American States).

Denise holds a law degree from the University of São Paulo and a Master of Laws (LL.M) from the University of Notre Dame. Her graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame were supported by a Fulbright Foundation scholarship. A native speaker of Portuguese, she is also fluent in English and Spanish.