Marinalva Cruz is the deputy secretary of the municipal secretariat for people with disabilities in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. She holds a Bachelors degree in technology in human resource management, and a Masters in public management. She has worked at the Secretariat of Employment and Labor Relations (SERT) of the government of the state of São Paulo for over 13 years coordinating the Person Support Programme with Disabilities (PADEF). The programme creates jobs, work and income for citizens with disabilities.

She has more than 15 years’ experience with the National Employment System (SINE-SP) and was a counselor to the State Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities (CEAPcD) and a delegate to the state and national conference on the rights of persons with disabilities as well as the state conference on state of employment and decent work.

Marinalva is a member of the São Paulo Chamber for Inclusion of People with Disabilities in the Formal Labor Market and the Inclusion Committee of the Grupo Mulheres do Brasil (Brazilian Women Group). She is a regular speaker at events focusing on social and professional inclusion of the disabled.