I was born and raised in Brazil. I left the country as a young adult driven by curiosity, a sense of adventure, and the need to grow professionally and experience different cultures. I have lived and worked in Bolivia, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, and I have delivered projects in several other countries.
In 2009, I have moved to Australia to complete an MBA at the Melbourne Business School. I have always had Australia in mind, since very young, perhaps I was influenced by Midnight Oil, Australian Crawl, Hoodoo Gurus, Concrete Blonde, Yothu Yindi, Gang Gajang, Men at Work - all very popular back home when I was growing up.
Australia is home for now, this is where I met my wife and had my daughters. However, I have never lost the connection with my home country, family, friends, and culture. I love Brazil - the music, food, culture, natural wonders. I still check the results from the Brazilian Football League weekend matches when I wake up first thing on Monday mornings. I am sure I will go back one day.
I started my career in the public sector with the then-emerging National Petroleum Agency (ANP) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. My role was to work with senior leaders within the government to define priorities, consult with stakeholders at state and federal levels, and design and deliver policies related to the use of natural gas infrastructure in the country.
In 2002, I got a job at Shell and that gave me the opportunity to become a global citizen. I sat on the Board of two gas pipeline companies in Bolivia, I supported the acquisition of upstream assets in Argentina, I built an LNG supply model in the United Kingdom, I gave classes on Economics for new graduates in Russia, I negotiated a $200m deal with a utility company in France, I supported the company operations in the Middle East, and I participated in a Climate Change research project in Canada.
In 2010, I joined Kearney, one of the world’s leading strategy consulting firms. In a relative short timeframe, I led more than twenty engagements across the financial services, telecommunications, energy, fashion and logistics industries, to name a few. That experience helped me solidify my problem solving, data analysis, client engagement and leadership skills, it gave me the confidence to operate with any client organisation across any industry.
In 2014, I learned about and fell in love with human-centred design. Since then, my career evolved towards helping companies define, develop, and deploy products and services that deliver better outcomes for their customers (communities, environment) through the use of technology.
I firmly believe that, in the long run, companies can only maximise shareholders’ returns if they deliver the best outcomes for their customers. Unfortunately, some companies forget that and compromise on customer outcomes for short term profits - big mistake! I feel that if companies are not focused on delivering better (best) outcomes for customers, the government must intervene by designing policies that ensure customers are protected against poor industry practices.
That is why, in 2023, I enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Public Policy course at Sydney University, to add another skill to my toolbox and learn the mechanisms by which such government interventions must occur. It turns out that the process around helping governments define, develop, and deploy policies that deliver better outcomes for their communities is quite similar to the one around helping companies define, develop, and deploy products and services that deliver better outcomes for their customers.
I moved from the public to the private sector because I wanted to grow and experience different cultures. However, the sense of public purpose has stayed with me.
At all the companies I worked for, I have always been one of the biggest contributors to their internal social and environmental initiatives, including the Project Better World at Shell, the Telstra Foundation, and the EY Ripples program.
Outside work, I have taken numerous volunteering roles with the likes of the School of Social Entrepreneurs, the Foundation for Young Australia, the UNSW Centre for Social Impact, Street Mission, and the Pelita Foundation in Lombok, Indonesia.
Armed with years of experience and a very good understanding of how businesses operate, I constantly push the boundaries and challenge the status quo. Today, my job is to help client organisations find the sweet spot, the intersection of what is good for customers, shareholders, employees and the broader community.
I remain as curious, driven and passionate as when I left Brazil. I thrive when I collaborate with equally passionate individuals and client organisations to maximise the impact they generate. I love the intellectual challenge of tacking big strategic problems, and I equally enjoy standing behind my words and helping clients implement my recommendations. There is no impact, if it is not executed.
