Cordeiro received her MD as a general practitioner in 1975 from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
In 1991, she founded Associação Saúde Criança, a social organization that uses a pioneering methodology to promote the well-being of socially-vulnerable families, with long-term results, proven by researchers at Georgetown University in 2013.
Saúde Criança was elected by NGO Advisor in 2018 the best social organization of Latin American and the 18th best of the world.
Over the course of 26 years, Cordeiro has enabled the creation of 23 similar NGOs near public hospitals in six states in Brazil and other social entrepreneurs have spread the methodology in many countries all over the world and influenced public policy in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
She has expertise in economic opportunity, public policy, health, human rights, livelihoods, living conditions, peace, women and girls education.