Mércia Britto

PhD researcher at the University of Coimbra (FEUC), working at the intersection of social economy, gender and social innovation. Her research focuses on leadership trajectories of women from peripheral contexts, examining how structural inequalities related to gender, class and territory shape organizational practices and processes of innovation. Her work adopts a qualitative and interpretive approach, combining biographical interviews, content analysis and autoethnography. She is particularly interested in intersectionality, situated knowledge and the relationship between lived experience and social transformation. Alongside her academic trajectory, she has over 20 years of experience as Executive Director of Cinema Nosso, a Brazilian socio-cultural organization dedicated to audiovisual education, digital inclusion and youth empowerment in peripheral territories. This professional experience constitutes a central empirical basis for her research. She has participated in research projects at the Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra, contributing to studies on gender, violence and peripheral contexts. Her work bridges research and practice, contributing to critical debates on social economy and social innovation.