Melina Risso is Research Director at Igarapé Institute. A long-time adviser to the Institute and co-author of Segurança Pública para Virar o Jogo (Changing the Game on Public Security), Melina is also a co-founder of the Agora! Movement, a member of the Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública and a consultant at the IADB.

Melina is a former director of the Sou da Paz Institute. She has worked on public safety issues for over 15 years. Her work is connected to developing and improving public policies on violence prevention, police reform, and social development. She also worked to enhance and strengthen partnerships between government and non-governmental organizations.

She has led researches on gun control, the use of force by the police and improvements in the criminal justice system. She is a member of the Brazilian Forum on Public Security, Pense Livre Network and an adviser to COMUDA (the City Council Policy on Drugs and Alcohol). Melina also served as a member of CONASP (National Council of Public Security) and CONJUVE (National Young Council) in partnership with the Federal Government.

Melina also worked outside Brazil. She was a visiting scholar at George Mason University in Virginia / USA and lecturer in several events in Latin America, like the Women’s Forum, Weaving networks – Geography of UNODC crime, and V International Seminar on Strategic Intelligence of the Colombian National Police. In 2011 she was the Brazilian civil society’s speaker for the monitoring of the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development.

Melina has a Ph.D. and Masters in Government and Public Administration at Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and graduated with a Master’s degree in Social Communication from ESPM.

Roda Viva: https://igarape.org.br/roda-viva-projeto-anticrime/

Opinion editorial on Global Observatory: https://igarape.org.br/brazil-with-most-homicides-in-the-world-moves-to-loosen-gun-laws/