Ms. Marcia Farias is a Prosecutor at the Audit Court of the Federal District, the equivalent in Brazil of a regional office of General Accountability (GAO) in the United States.

Before joining the Humphrey Program, she was serving her fourth two-year term as Attorney General at the Audit Court, supervising the work of her fellow Prosecutors and representing the Prosecution Office in Court hearings.

Ms. Farias has served on the Board of the National Association of Public Prosecutors in the Audit Courts of Brazil, as Executive Director (2002-2004), and is the author of a book on Land Use in Brazil, as well as several articles in specialized national publications, involving such topics as public bidding and contracting, zoning laws, efficiency of the administration and others related to administrative law. She has, furthermore, written an acclaimed article in the Brazilian Senate's review, on the comparison of the thoughts of Oliver Wendell Holmes and those of Recaséns Siches.

Prior to joining the Public Prosecution, in 1988, Ms. Farias had a private practice and served as a clerk in the Federal District 's Supreme Court.

Ms. Farias has a Bachelor's degree in Law (University of Brasília, Brazil) and a Master's Degree in Law (Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil). She has also been granted, by the French government, participation in a course on money laundering and financial investigation (Ecole nationale de la magistrature - 2003) and another course on evaluation of public policies (Ecole nationale d'administration publique).

During her Humphrey Year, Ms. Farias will focus her studies on urban development, land use, housing law, and programs to end homelessness in the United States.