Maria Poloz

lawyer at Civil Society Direction

Lawyer, civil society activist, and volunteer.

Has 5 years of experience in legal practice, 9 years in the civil society sector, and 8 years of teaching foreign languages and law at educational institutions of various accreditation levels.

An expert of The Global Expert Hub, a platform uniting AML/CFT specialists from over 45 countries. National expert of the Council of Europe in the field of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).

Author and co-author of numerous analytical and methodological publications, including the Methodology for Monitoring Lease and Small-Scale Privatization Auctions of State and Municipal Property and the Methodology for Independent Risk Assessment of Ukraine’s Non-Profit Sector in the AML/CFT Sphere.

Head of the Research Group on Independent AML/CFT Risk Assessment in the Non-Profit Sector in Ukraine.

Trainer at the CEDEM School of Security 2024–2025.

Since May 2025, serves as Advisor to the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) on the protection of the rights of civilians arbitrarily deprived of their liberty as a result of the armed conflict, working on the advancement of international humanitarian law in this area.

In 2024–2025, also worked as an analyst at the Reform Support Office of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

Has significant experience in international advocacy.

President of the Ukrainian Club at the European Forum Alpbach since 2022.

Member of the Democracy and Rule of Law Track Committee (political track) of the European Forum Alpbach in 2023 and 2024, where she contributed to shaping the agenda.

Holds degrees in Law (Academician Yuriy Bugay International Scientific and Technical University, 2013) and Philology (Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, 2013).

Fluent in five languages.