Environment

Former CEO and member of the Executive Committee and of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, David Lopes holds a college degree in Business Management. He was until September 2014 the President of the international area of Daymon Worldwide (a leading global company in consumers’ brand development) where he was also responsible for managing international joint ventures, business operations development and expansion in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He previously was General Manager at Daymon Portugal for three years, where he led the team that established the hub which became the basis of this North American international business in Europe. He transitioned from this role to serve as CEO of the leading Portugese wholesaler «Recheio Cash & Carry» before rejoining Daymon. His professional career also includes leadership positions in the polish company Biedronka and as member of the Board of Directors of the companies «Parque Expo», «Oceanário de Lisboa» and «Fundação do Gil». He is a founding member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council.

Last updated: april 2020

Graduated in Marine Biology from Lisbon Classic University, in 1986, with executive education at IMD (1995) and Harvard (1997), and Alumni Member of Stanford (2000). Executive President of Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos B.V., the main shareholder of Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A., since its establishment in 2012. Member of the Board of Directors of Jerónimo Martins SGPS, S.A. from 1995 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2015. Chairman of Unilever Fima, Lda., Gallo Worldwide, Lda., JMDB Representação e Distribuição de Marcas Lda. and Movendo Capital B.V. Since 2020, he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, of which he was member of the Board of Directors from 2009 to 2018 and member of the Board of Trustees from 2018 to 2020. Since 2015, he is the Chairman of Oceanário de Lisboa, S.A., and, since 2016, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the Oceano Azul Foundation. Since 2024, he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alfredo de Sousa Foundation and member of the Board of Trustees of GIMM – Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine.

Last updated: october 2025

Born in 1959, he has a Bachelor's degree and a postgraduate degree in Philosophy. He has worked as a film and television programmer. He started out as a film programmer at Cinemateca Portuguesa, he was director of international programmes at SIC and worked at Zon Lusomundo as director-general of film channels (TVCines, Hollywood, MOV). In parallel, he was responsible for jazz programmes on the radio, namely Antena 2. He has worked with newspapers and takes part in blogs.

Last updated: October 2014

He is an emeritus professor at the University of Lisbon School of Sciences. He has devoted himself to teaching and research in theoretical nuclear physics, astrophysics and, since 1987, in environmental sciences, global changes and sustainability, and is currently President of the National Council for Environment and Sustainable Development. His latest book is «Time, Progress, Growth and Technology».

Last updated: May 2021

Born in Santarém in 1948, he graduated from the Higher Institute of Agronomy (where he has been a full professor since 1985) and he got his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). He teaches Ecology and Plant Biology on courses in the 1st, 2nd (Master's degree) and 3rd (PhD) cycles. His scientific research interests focus on the ecology of forests, particularly the effect of climate change on the carbon cycle. He was co-author (or co-editor) of six books by multiple essayists and more than 100 articles in international journals. He is a member of the National Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CNADS) and Academia Europaea in London.

Last updated: January 2014

Sofia Guedes Vaz is a professor, researcher and consultant in the area of Sustainability and Ethics.
From 2022 to 2024, she was head of the Bachelor’s degree programme in Environmental Engineering at Nova University in Cairo (Egypt). She has worked at public and private bodies, both national and international, in the field of the environment.
Sofia began her studies in Engineering, before moving on to Environmental Philosophy, which gives her an interdisciplinary insight into the analysis of sustainability issues.
She has published and edited books, scientific articles and book chapters, while also working in science communication and publishing works in the area of scientific dissemination, particularly the book «O Ambiente em Portugal», published by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos.

Last updated: August 2025

Social psychologist, principal investigator at the University of Lisbon Institute of Social Sciences (ICS-UL) and visiting professor at the School of Psychology, also in that university. He has a PhD in Social Psychology from ISCTE – IUL (2009) and did his postdoctoral studies in the Netherlands and Lisbon (ICS-UL).
He was president of the Portuguese Psychology Association (APP) between 2021 and 2023.
His research focuses on intergroup relations and socially relevant decisions for low-status groups.
He has published works in magazines such as the «European Journal of Social Psychology» and «Frontiers in Psychology».

Last updated: December 2023

After working for SIC as producer and correspondent, she attended Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism (New York). Since then, she has dedicated herself to reporting from danger zones: She worked undercover to report on the mujahideen crossing from Syria into Iraq; she camped in the Amazon jungle to cover the dispute between indigenous tribes and miners over the largest diamond mine in South America; and she travelled on the «Train of Death», which carries migrants from Central America to the US, etc. She has received several journalistic awards, as well as an Emmy nomination. She is a correspondent for National Geographic's Explorer series.

A journalist, he was Director of News at RTP and TVI, simultaneously editing and presenting Telejornal (RTP) and Jornal das 8 (TVI). He began his career in radio and, in 1992, was part of the team that founded the first private television station in Portugal, SIC, where he presented Jornal da Noite. He taught at the Escola Superior de Comunicação Social and co-coordinated the Postgraduate Course in Journalism at ISCTE/Media Capital. At the invitation of the President of the Republic, he inaugurated the programme «Journalists in Belém Palace» in 2018.

He has worked in protected areas and nature conservation for more than 30 years, including the planning and management of protected areas and the Natura 2000 network. He has studied the changes in the rural landscape of mainland Portugal in the 20th century and their relationship with the dynamics of biodiversity. He has published the books «Of Time and Landscapes», «The Taste of Sicó» and «Portugal: Rural Landscape».

Last updated: July 2022