María Gabrielle Méndez

María Gabrielle Méndez Aceldo is a Law student at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and is currently in the final semesters of her degree. In 2026, she joined Quevedo & Ponce, an experience that deeply excites her due to the opportunity to learn alongside highly experienced professionals.

Since the beginning of her legal education, she has shown a particular interest in Criminal Law, with an emphasis on gender-based violence and disappearances. She is convinced that the law must be practiced with the necessary sensitivity to genuinely address social issues that many prefer to ignore. Likewise, she maintains a strong commitment to the rights of nature and aspires to participate in international litigation that reinforces the idea that nature is not merely a means, but an end deserving of respect and protection.

During her high school years, she was part of the Leaders Club (Model United Nations), an experience that strengthened her vocation to engage with real social issues and, through the law, help bring visibility to what is often silenced.

Passionate about art, history, and poetry, she finds in these forms of expression an essential tool for understanding the world and practicing law with humanity. Her genuine eagerness to learn has led her to explore each branch of law with curiosity, convinced that this is the career she has always dreamed of pursuing.

An animal lover, she practices horseback riding due to the special connection she finds in her bond with horses, and she enjoys the unconditional affection of her dogs when she returns home. One of the moments that has marked her most was receiving, on her twentieth birthday, a gift reproducing one of the paintings she admires, given by someone special who truly understood her artistic sensitivity.

Her goal is to gain experience both in Ecuador and abroad, as she is convinced that there is no better way to understand the world than by living it.