Maya Foa is the Joint Executive Director at the London based human rights charity, Reprieve, where she leads a team of lawyers fighting against grave human rights abuses. Maya has conducted extensive advocacy before governments of Europe, the United States and regional and international bodies and has served as an expert advisor to the European Commission. Maya has been recognised for her work internationally and, in 2019, was selected as a World Economic Forum Young Leader and, in 2015, was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship for her pioneering work on the death penalty. She is a frequent voice and commentator in the media. Maya studied French and Italian literature at Oxford University and did a postgraduate degree in Law.

In this interview we discuss Maya’s early career in the theatre world, concepts of ‘hero human rights lawyers’,  the story behind a candidate’s CV, networking and Maya’s typical work day.