
Neide Maria da Silva is Founder and Executive Director of Equipe Técnica de Assessoria Pesquisa e Ação Social, one of Brazil's most important non-governmental organizations. She has played a crucial role in building community organizations and civil society especially in the context of resistance to military rule.
The organization's activities focus on gender, violence, human rights, and land security issues and is active in monitoring state and municipal government urban policy. They work to protect children, youth, and families in slums, monitoring orphanages and protecting urban squatters from being evicted and brutalized.