Paula Alexandra Prado was born in Mozambique in 1969 and lived in South Africa until she completed her high school education. In 1993, she graduated in Business Management from ISCTE, in Lisbon. She began her professional career in industry, as a management trainee in the financial area, for the companies of the joint-venture between the Unilever Group and the Jerónimo Martins Group. In 2000, she was appointed Finance Manager for one of Unilever’s business areas in Portugal. Between 2003 and 2006, she was expatriated to Madrid, in Spain, as Finance, IT and Logistics Manager for Unilever España. She returned to Lisbon to undertake duties as Factory Manager at the Lever factory also accumulating the management of the Logistics Department in the Unilever Jerónimo Martins Group. In February 2013, she was appointed Chief Financial Officer for the Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos.