Maria Kanevskaya lives in St. Petersburg and for many years was director and founding board member of the NGO Human Rights Resource Centre, providing legal and other services to NGOs in Russia. She is a member of the St. Petersburg HUman Rights Council and a member of the Russian NGO Lawyers’ Club. Maria Kanevskaya is a law graduate (2003) and went on to write her PhD on municipal law in Russia (2006). Since graduating, Maria Kanevskaya has pursued a number of educational and training courses in France, Croatia, Switzerland, the USA and Poland. In 2002-2008 she worked as a lawyer with the St. Petersburg Centre for Education and Research Programmes, providing legal advice to NGOs in the North-West of Russia. In 2006-2008, she was the head of legal analysis at the NGO Lawyers for Civil Society. In 2007-2009 she was an associate professor in law at the St Petersburg State University of Management and Law. She is the author of more than 15 books and textbooks and numerous articles. She speaks French and English.