Manuela Leong Pereira was the executive director of Fokupers (East Timorese Women’s Communication Forum), a women's NGO established by survivors of violence during the Indonesian occupation in Timor-Leste. As a member of civil society, she played a key role in accompanying and participating in the work of the Timorese truth commission (CAVR), including the implementation of CAVR's urgent reparations scheme. She has a degree in Communications from the University of Gajah Mada (1993). In 2006, she was appointed as a member of the Electoral Commission for Timor-Leste.