Before joining Smile Train in 2013, Mariane worked with Sobrapar, the first Smile Train treatment partner in Brazil, and was responsible for managing Smile Train’s program within their cleft center. She also worked as an Executive Secretary for Systagenix, a multinational company in the area of wound care. She holds a Bachelor’s of English and Portuguese Language from University of Campinas PUC and an MBA in People Management and Leadership from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).

When Mariane first joined Smile Train, she served as the Program Manager for Brazil and grew to become the Area Director for South America. As Area Director, she supervised the growth and maintenance of Smile Train’s partnerships and programs across Brazil and the Spanish-speaking countries of South America, increasing access to cleft care in resource-poor communities across the continent. Today, Mariane works across the entire region supporting the organization’s capacity-building initiatives, reinforcing our “teach a man to fish” model. Driven by her commitment to improve global access to education, Mariane strongly believes in the statement once pronounced by Malcom X, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Education plays a very important role in global society on a micro and macro level. By offering professionals many education and training opportunities, Smile Train's is making a large and continuous investment in this area.