Meiriely Amaral

Meiriely Amaral joined Beyond Legal Aid in November 2025 as a Staff Attorney. Originally from Curitiba, Brazil, she immigrated to Queens, New York with her family. Before joining Beyond Legal Aid, she worked in eviction defense. She is passionate about building a world where people not only have their basic needs met—like safety and shelter—but can also live with dignity, joy, and the opportunity to truly thrive. She is excited to practice movement lawyering and build people power at Beyond.

In law school, she engaged in work spanning restorative justice, housing, record sealing, and consumer protection. She holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and a B.A. in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies & Political Science from Middlebury College, where she also spent a semester abroad in a human rights program at Universidad Alberto Hurtado in Santiago, Chile. Before attending law school Meiriely was a paralegal at a public interest law firm that specialized in labor law and workers' rights. 

She is an animal lover who spends her free time reading, going on walks, dabbling in creative pursuits, and watching Brazilian telenovelas and any and all reality TV.