Dovilė Juodkaitė is a lawyer. She graduated from the Law Faculty of Vilnius University in 1998, and further on continued her professional training as a scholar at the Columbia University School of Law (2001-2002), in the Public Interest Law Initiative program, focusing on mental health law and human rights of people with mental disabilities. Later D. Juodkaite participated in an Open Society institute Centre for Policy studies, International Policy fellowship program (2004-2005) and under the Public Health, Mental disability Advocacy Program (MDAP) completed the research on the topic “Lithuanian Mental Health Policy: shifting from deinstitutionalization towards community integration”.

In 2010-2011-year D. Juodkaite have completed and received International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights, organized by Indian Law Society in collaboration with World Health Organisation. Since 2002 D. Juodkaite is actively working in Lithuanian NGO sector, focusing on human rights and disability. During this period as a lawyer and expert, she was involved in various international and national projects related to such areas as: human rights and disability, discrimination on the grounds of disability, mental health care, policy and law, guardianship issues and overall social integration of people with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities. Throughout her work she was involved in promoting CRPD, OPCAT and other international documents enhancing rights of persons with disabilities in Lithuania.

She actively participated in development and reforming of national legislation, related to social and health care systems for persons with disabilities, safeguarding their interests and right. Provided trainings, gave lectures and consultancy on the issues of rights of persons with disabilities. In 2006-2012 years D. Juodkaite took a position of the director of NGO “Global initiative on psychiatry”, Vilnius office. Since June 2013 she became the president of Lithuanian Disability Forum – umbrella organisation for disability NGOs in Lithuania. April 2013-December 2016 she was public consultant to Prime Minister of Lithuania on disability issues.

Since August, 2016 she became Faculty member in International Master on Mental Health Policy and Service Organization, the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health. In 2017 she was an Expert on the National WHO QualityRights Assessment Team at World Health Organization for human rights monitoring in social and medical closed-type institutions (social care homes, psychiatric hospitals, etc.) in Lithuania.