Our Leadership

He holds a Degree in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from New York University - NYU. He has been CEO of the Company since 12/17/2018, He was previously the CEO of Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP), Prumo Logística S.A. (controller of the Port of Açu) and MRS Logística S.A. He was also the Director for Special Projects for Vale S.A. and partner of McKinsey & Company. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Bradespar, CSP, VLI, among others, and a member of Alcoa Latam's Advisory Board.

With more than 15 years of experience in large multinationals, he has worked at Shell, Banco ABN Real / Santander, Vale and Atento in several areas of specialty. He holds an MBA from MIT, a specialization degree in Finance from FGV and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from PUC-RJ. His last position was as CFO of Atento in Brazil.

Graduated in Economics from PUC-RJ, holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Between 2016 and 2020, he was CEO of Spot Educação, a complementary education company whose largest operation is that of Cultura Inglesa. Before leading Spot, Marina was director of BRMalls and executive director of Prumo Logística, a company in the infrastructure sector, in addition to having served as a consultant at McKinsey.

Vice-President of Marketing since June 12, 2018. Mr. Alves Jr. began his career as a trainee at Votorantim Cimentos, where he worked for six years at different operations leadership positions. Before leaving the company, he was responsible for concrete operations in the North and Northeast regions of the country and led national process improvement projects. He joined YDUQS in 2009 to create the personnel cost planning area. He has held leadership positions in the Operations Executive Area, having been responsible for performance control and planning in all the operations, as well as managed YDUQS’s operation in São Paulo. In early 2016, he took office as Strategic and Financial Planning Officer. Since October 2016, he has been Vice-President of Distance-Learning Operations. He graduated in Civil and General Engineering, with a double degree from the Federal University of Ceará and École Centrale de Lille, in France, as he received a French government excellence scholarship as part of the TIME (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) program. He holds an Executive MBA from the IESE Business School, in Barcelona.

Claudia Romano studied Leadership at the Dom Cabral Foundation, Integrated ESG Management at PUC-Rio, holds a degree in Social Communication with a Journalism specialization from Faculdade da Cidade, and was a partner at For Joy Comunicação. With 20 years dedicated to education, she has been honored with the city and state's highest honors: the Pedro Ernesto Medal in 2019 and the Tiradentes Medal in 2022.

She also holds positions in other organizations such as the Human Rights Committee of OAB/RJ, the Business Council for Sports, Leisure, and Social Development of ACRJ (Commercial Association of Rio de Janeiro), and the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. Claudia Romano is also the Vice President of SEMERJ (Union of Maintaining Entities of Higher Education Institutions of Rio de Janeiro), Council Member of ANUP (National Association of Private Universities), and the Solar Meninos de Luz School. Additionally, she serves as an Ambassador of Culture at the Cidade das Artes Foundation.

With a wide and consistent network of contacts built in years of career in the private spheres, government (federal, state and municipal), third sector institutions and opinion leaders, acts directly and indirectly, as a facilitator in the Company's various fronts, to strengthen the institution's image of academic excellence, and to show the educational market, the regulatory body and society that it is possible to combine growth in scale with teaching quality, always in line with the best ESG practices - environmental, social and governance.

Has extensive experience in the development of Strategic Partnerships, Social Responsibility and Sustainability. In the Strategic Partnerships area, she forges alliances that benefit all the Company’s stakeholders, creating asset value for YDUQS’s services and products, as well as continuously seeking better negotiation conditions to generate additional revenue or new business opportunities. She structured the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Program strategically focusing on five pillars: sports, culture, citizenship, school and innovation/entrepreneurship, which are integrated into YDUQS’s other areas and the Company’s branding, depending on the results achieved.

She also created the Tax Benefit Committee focusing on the approval of tax incentive projects by the Culture Law, the Sports Law, ISS, Funcad, Pronas, Pronom and other programs. She led the establishment of criteria for the selection of projects that require the participation of students and provide practical experience that enriches the development of students beyond the classroom.

Ms. Romano, as head of Branding, Corporate Communications, Media Relations and Institutional Relations, is in charge of guiding, coordinating, supervising and evaluating external and internal communications, as well as supervising the Company’s PR agencies. She is also responsible for crisis management and works to quickly transform contingencies, uncertainties, problems, and risks into positive solutions for YDUQS, in addition to dealing in person with the press, companies, public agencies and the government.

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Graduated in Computer Engineering from the Federal University of São Carlos, with specialization in Administration from EAESP-FGV. He joined YDUQS in April 2018 as Director of Pricing and Product. In November 2019, he took over the Executive Director of Marketing and Sales. Throughout his career, he was general manager of Luxottica for Latin America and director of New Business and Operations at Vivara. In addition, he was senior manager of the strategic consulting firm Value Partners.

Graduated in Economics from the Catholic University of Argentina, MBA in Business Administration from the Austral University - IAE. Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors since 4/18/2018 and member of this Board since September 2017, according to the definition of Independent Director of B3's Novo Mercado Regulation, a position he combines with that of member of the People and Governance Committee and, until April 26, 2019, of Coordinator of the Company's Strategy Committee. Managing Partner of Advent International, with 26 years of experience in private equity, having led several transactions. Currently focuses on investments in the education and health service sectors in Latin America. Before joining Advent International, he worked for 3 years at Grupo Perez Compac, where he worked on several privatization projects in Argentina, especially in the energy, oil and gas sectors. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Faculdade da Serra Gaúcha and Kroton Educacional, a publicly-traded company in the education sector.

Ms. Thamila Cefali Zaher holds a degree in law and administration from Centro Universitário UniSEB, a postgraduate degree in Strategic Business Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (MBA FGV – SP) and in Modern Education from PUCRS. Between 2009 and 2012 she worked on the executive board of the Postgraduate Center at Centro Universitário UniSEB. Recently completed relevant courses in business and education, such as: Global Business from Harvard Business School (2021), Leading Change from Harvard University Graduate School of Education (2019), and Leading Digital Transformation (2019) from INSEAD. Between 2014 and 2016, she served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Estácio Participações S.A. (currently YDUQS). Between 2016 and 2017, she served on the Board of Directors of WIDE. Between 2013 and 2021, she worked as a founding partner of T4CORP and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Maple Bear Global Schools and Instituto Orofacial das Americas (IOA). Ms. Thamila is a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors and Executive Board of Sistema Educacional Brasileiro S.A (“Grupo SEB”), an educational conglomerate focused on basic education (encompassing preschool, elementary and secondary education).

Graduated in business administration with emphasis in finance from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FVG), and attended the Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), United States. He was investment manager at Geral do Comércio Corretora de Câmbio e Valores Mobiliários from 1991 to 1992, and worked from 1992 to 1994 as a portfolio analyst at Montgomery Asset Management in San Francisco, California. Mr. André Pires was Executive Officer of Geral do Comércio Corretora de Câmbio e Valores Mobiliários for 2 years (from 1994 to 1996), Officer of Banco BBA Creditanstalt for one year and Managing Officer of BNP Paribas Asset Management, a company dedicated to asset management, from 1997 to 2004. He served as Investment Officer and Finance Vice President for Gerdau S.A. from 2004 to 2010, and from 2012 to 2015 he served as CFO of the largest Brazilian steel company and one of the main suppliers of long steel in the Americas. Mr. André Pires served as CFO of Ultrapar S.A., a company that operates in the fuel distribution sectors through Ipiranga and Ultragaz, from 2015 to 2020. Currently serves as CFO of Aegea Saneamento e Participações S.A. since 2020, the largest basic sanitation company in the private segment in Brazil, in addition to being a member of the Board of Directors of SPE1 and SPE4 (Águas do Rio), a sanitation concession in the State of Rio de Janeiro and Corsan (sanitation company in the State of Rio Grande do Sul).

Mr. Eduardo Luiz Wurzmann holds a bachelor's degree in economics from USP in 1987, completed his MBA in finance from the University of Illinois in 1991, and is a Fellow at the Henry Crown Program at the Aspen Institute, having completed his course in 2005. From 1991 to 1993, he worked at Banco de Investimentos Garantia in São Paulo, as an investment analyst. From 1993 to 2000, he worked at the French investment bank Credit Agricole Indosuez Securities in Brazil and Russia, where he was a Managing Director. From 2000 to 2011, he also served as CEO of Grupo Ibmec Educacional, one of the largest educational groups in Brazil, focused on the area of economics and business. Between 2011 and 2014, he became the General Officer of H&R Block Brasil, the world leader in preparation of individuals’ income tax returns, with more than 26 million customers worldwide. Mr. Eduardo is a member of the Board of Directors of Mills Engenharia and Alper Corretora de Seguros, a publicly traded company, in addition to being a member of the Board of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, and of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University. Furthermore, he was general secretary of CONIB – Confederação Israelita do Brasil, with his term ending in 2020.

Bernardo Lobão holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from IBMEC/RJ and has completed an extension course in Corporate Law and Capital Markets at FGV/RJ. He has 23 years of experience in managing equities in the Brazilian market. He was a co-manager and founding partner of Studio Investimentos and an analyst/co-manager and partner at Athena Capital. Prior to that, he was a senior analyst at ARX Investimentos/BNY Mellon ARX, where he began his career. He was responsible for covering various sectors of the Brazilian economy: steel/mining, pulp and paper, oil and gas, industry, health, education, logistics, and real estate. Additionally, he served on the fiscal boards of Iochpe-Maxion and Bematech. Lobão has been a securities portfolio manager (CVM) since 2009.

Graduated in Economics from Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro and with an MBA from Harvard Business School. Currently an independent member of the Company's Board of Directors since September 2017, according to the definition of Independent Director of B3's Novo Mercado Regulation, a position he accumulates with that of member of the Audit and Finance Committee, the Academic Committee and Coordinator of the non-statutory Performance Monitoring Committee. He joined Advent do Brasil Consultoria e Participações Ltda. in 2011 and is the Officer in charge of the health and education sectors in Brazil.  Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Directors of CI&T (NYSE: CI&T), a publicly-traded company in the Technology sector. In recent years, he participated in Advent's investments in Easynvest, Nubank, Ebanx, CI&T, Merama, United Medical, Fleury, Allied, Paranaguá Container Terminal, Fortbrás. Before joining Advent, he was an associate at AT Kearney in São Paulo and New York for four years.

Graduated and holding an MBA in management and marketing at UFMG, FDC, ESPM and Customer Centricity, sales and sustainability courses at Wharton, Cranfield and Cambridge. Trained as an advisor by IBGC and GoNew and, since 2015, accumulating experience on Boards of Directors, Advisory Boards and Board Committees: WWF, Verde Campo/Coca-Cola, Way Carbon, Globalbev, Instituto Ser Mais (education of vulnerable young people) and Fundação Novo Olhar. She has been part of the IBGC Strategy Committee since 2020 and works as an advisor to companies and NGOs, working as a business strategy consultant in several industries: food, agribusiness, health, education, and sports. Since 2020, she has also been a partner and CEO of Universidade do Futebol. Among the companies she worked for (C-Level) or consultancy clients are: Tetra Pak, Unilever, Louis Dreyfus Company, Coca Cola, Nestlé, ABIA, Beneficiência Portuguesa, Globalbev, Granbio - Biotecnologia, Myralis Farmacêutica, State Sports Office of São Paulo, Clube Athletico Paranaense, CBF Academy and São Paulo Soccer Federation. Ms. Heloísa has 30 years of experience in marketing, sales, customer centricity and strategic and sustainable business management in national and multinational companies in various sectors with projects in over 40 countries, in addition to being a multi-specialist in innovation and ESG.

Mr. Nilson has a degree in Law, specializing in Business and Educational Law. More than 40 years of experience in the educational sector. Standing out in his professional career, he was CEO of Pearson Brasil for 3 years. Currently holds the position of Superintendent/Executive Officer of the education holding Grupo SEB, a position he has been holding for 36 years. Also serves on the Board of Directors of SEB S/A, WIDE S/A, Krefaya S/A - Grupo IOA, and Maple Bear Global.

Graduated in engineering, he was CEO and director of company Locaweb Internet S.A., where he has been working in different positions since 2008. Independent member of the Company's Board of Directors, according to the definition of Independent Director of B3's Novo Mercado Regulation, a position he accumulates with that of member of the Academic Committee since 2018, having become Coordinator of this Committee in 2022. Director of company Digipix S.A., an e-commerce company for photography, photobooks, photogifts, Lojas Quero-Quero S.A., a retail company selling electronics, construction materials and furniture in the south region of the country and Allied Tecnologia S.A. Responsible for starting the Submarino.com website, worked for the company as technology officer, reaching the position of CEO. He was president of Submarino.com during the company's IPO on Bovespa and during the merger with Americanas.com, which resulted in company B2W. He was an independent director of company CETIP-- SA, Laboratórios Fleury S.A., and International Meal Company S.A.. 

Graduated in business administration from IMES, in accounting sciences from the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas and master's degree in Corporate Governance from Laureate/FMU. Member for Life of Academia Paulista de Contabilidade. Main professional experiences for the past five (5) years include: (i) Member of the Board of Directors of Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF) –; (ii) Member of the Independent Investigation Committee of BRF, (iii) Training and specialization courses in Corporate Governance at IBGC, in Specialization Courses, Educational Institutions Abroad at universities (Singularity, Yale), as well as international technical days in different countries, (iv) Served as Coordinator of IBGC Finance and Accounting Committee for 5 years and (v) Coordinator and/or member of Audit Committees in companies such as CCR Group. Previ, Tupy, Natura, SulAmerica among other companies operating in the capital market. Worked for PwC as COO in consolidated operations in 11 South American countries for around 12 years and as an Independent Auditor for around 35 years, assessing clients' risks and internal controls, having continuous interaction with Audit and Risk Assessment principles and rules of corporate entities in the national and international market. Speaker at associations or universities such as IBGC, São Paulo Accounting Association, Insper, IBEF, among others.

A graduate in Business Administration from Sociedade Universitária Augusto Motta – SUAM in 1978 and in Accounting Sciences from Faculdade – SOMLEI in 1980, he has been a permanent member of the Audit Committee of YDUQS Participações S.A. since 2008. Additionally, he is a member of the Audit Committee of the following companies: Parnaíba Gás Natural S.A., a publicly-traded company in the oil and gas sector, since 2014; Magnesita Refratários S.A., a company in the heat-resistant products sector since 2008. Additionally, he is a managing partner of the following companies: Griffe Serviços Contábeis Ltda., in the tax and accounting consultancy and auditing sector, since 2013; Rio Vermelho Empreendimentos e Participações Ltda., in the real estate sector, since 2005; Boat & Plane Time Sharing do Brasil Ltda., in the business management consultancy sector, since 2005; Ocean Explorer do Brasil Ltda., in the business management consultancy sector, since 2005; Belavia Administração e Participações Ltda., in the business management consultancy sector, since 2010; Hainan Administração e Participações Ltda., in the business management consultancy sector, since 2010. He has served as a member of the Audit Committee of SBF S/A Group since March 2019 and has previously served as a member of the Audit Committee of Lojas Americanas S.A., (2000 to 2010), South American Lighting Participações S/A (2016 to 2019), of Magnesita Refratários S/A (2008 to 2012), of Allis Participações S.A. (2012 to 2015), Audit Committee of Oi S/A (since April 2016). He worked in PwC’s external audit for 3 years and in the controllership area of ??Banco de Investimentos Garantia S/A for 15 years.

Graduated in Production Engineering from Poli-USP, and MBA from Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania, with Majors in Accounting and Finance. Member of the Audit Committee of Voke (formerly Agasus S.A.) since August 2022. She has been an effective member of the Audit Committee of Yduqs Participações S.A. since 2019, and of the Audit Committee of Raízen S.A. since August 2022. Chairperson of the Audit Committee of Locaweb Serviços de Internet S.A. from May 2021 to April 2023. Attended the IBGC course – Audit Committee in Practice in April 2017. More than 20 years of experience in the financial market, from 1995 to 2017, including positions as Head of Institutional Investor Relations at Itaú Unibanco, Sell-Side Equity Research Analyst at Itaú BBA, responsible for the Banking and Financial Services sector (Top Analyst by Institutional Investor Magazine), and responsible for the Talent and HR Analytics Area and Risk Culture PMO and Member of the Risk Steering Committee of the Itaú Unibanco conglomerate. Also worked as a Fixed Income Trader and Portfolio Manager at Banco SRL and Banco Inter American Express in São Paulo. Partner at Lucas Melo e Associados Ltda. since 2017 working as Consultant, and Associate Partner at MBA Empresarial, providing admissions consultancy for universities abroad.

Mr. Fabio Cornibert holds a degree in Economics from FMU and a Postgraduate Degree in Accounting and Financial Administration from FGV and several specialization courses in Finance and Management in Brazil and abroad. He is an Administration Advisor Certified by IBGC (Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance) since March 2013. He worked for nearly 40 years in the Financial area. He held the position of CFO at Abbott Laboratories (6 years), Colgate-Palmolive (2 years) and from 1992 to 2008 he was the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer at Johnson & Johnson (16 years). He was a Director, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Lopes Supermercado, Chairman of the Financial Management Committee of ABA (Brazilian Association of Advertisers), member of the Management Committee of BS Distribuidora and Davene/Casa KM. He was a Costs Professor in the undergraduate course at Europan and a Postgraduate Professor at FAAP. He was a member of the Finance, Accounting and Capital Markets Committee at IBGC, Advisory Board member and Audit Committee member at United Way Brasil. He is currently the CFO of Casa de Apoio and managing partner of Tafinama Empreendimentos e Participações and Grafab Gestão de Serviços Empresariais. He gave several lectures on Return on Investment (ROI), Professional Career, Indicator Management, Strategic Planning and Finance, made more than 60 presentations on Business Plan, Strategy and Business Review. In 1996, he went to Singapore to guide Johnson & Johnson affiliates on financial management in inflationary environments. He was a reviewer and writer of IBGC Booklet 18 regarding Business Monitoring.

Ms. Mara Silva is a senior finance executive with 30 years of experience in M&A, strategic and financial planning in multinational companies, graduated in Business Administration with an emphasis on Foreign Trade from UNA, with a postgraduate degree in Logistics at COPPEAD/UFRJ and in competitiveness from UFMG. She holds an MBA in business from Fundação Dom Cabral. Between 2006 and 2016 she worked as M&A strategic planning manager at Vale S.A. and between 2016 and 2018, she worked as planning manager at Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes. From 2018 to 2019, she served as a senior manager at Imerys and between 2020 and 2022 he served as head of transformation at Latam Linhas Aéreas, being responsible for global transversal projects to reduce costs and increase revenue, and member of the approval committee for the main projects of digital and cultural transformation.

Law Graduate from Mackenzie University and in Accounting Sciences from PUC-SP, with a master's degree in Tax Law from PUC-SP (2008). Registered with the Brazilian Bar Association under number 71.409 and accredited by the IBGC as a member of the Audit Committee. Evany worked for 23 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers Contadores Públicos, and during this period spent 15 years in the Risk & Quality area and as TAX area Officer. Currently providing legal and tax consultancy services, focusing on Quality Control, Data Protection and Secrecy Policies, and is a partner in the Legal Consulting area at Reis, Varrichio e Carrer Sociedade de Advogados.