Alumni Council
Liaison with society
The Alumni Council is a non-institutional advisory panel established in 2024 by the Dean of NOVA School of Law with the approval of the School Council.
The Council, composed of individuals with diverse academic degrees, professions, genders, backgrounds and life experiences, represents the voice of the alumni of NOVA School of Law.
Members are called upon to advise, make recommendations and provide informed feedback to the Board on a variety of issues that may impact alumni relations and the School’s engagement with the NOVA School of Law community and society at large, including the School’s mission, outreach, fundraising and special events.
The term of office of the members of the Alumni Council shall coincide with that of the Dean.
Members of the Alumni Council
Ariana Simões de Almeida
Ariana Simões de Almeida is a social entrepreneur with 15 years’ experience in equality, diversity, inclusion, economic empowerment and the elimination of gender-based violence (Europe, USA, Africa and Asia).
She works with the United Nations, the European Commission, NGOs and governments. In Portugal, she leads the Harvard-born Girls For Girls project. Graduated in Law, her Master’s degree focuses on the parental leave regime as a tool for promoting gender equality.
Carla Gonçalves Borges
Carla Gonçalves Borges joined VdA in 2013. She is the Head Partner of the Litigation & Arbitration practice.
Carla focuses her practice in civil and commercial litigation and arbitration, both national and international, often acting as arbitrator before judicial courts and arbitral tribunals under the aegis of various arbitration centres such as the CAC (Centro de Arbitragem Comercial), the ICC and the ICSID.
She has extensive experience in handling judicial and arbitration cases, representing clients from a wide range of industries.
Dussu
Djabula
Dussu Djabula holds a bachelor from NOVA School of Law and an Advanced Masters Degree in International and European Business Law from KU Leuven.
Her past experience includes research positions at NOVA School of Law, namely in the NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment, and advocacy work focused on Gender Equality and diversity in all its forms.
Currently, Dussu is a Trainee Lawyer at PLMJ in the Banking, Capital Markets and Securities department.
Fatima
Dermawan
A graduate of the Faculty of Law of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a master’s degree from Católica Global School of Law and Harvard Law School, Fátima has been registered as a lawyer in Portugal since 2013, in Macau since 2016, and in the State of New York since 2020..
Fátima is currently Vice President & Assistant General Counsel at Sands China Ltd., where she is responsible for the firm’s litigation.
Fátima has participated as a lecturer in several postgraduate courses in alternative dispute resolution and as a speaker in several seminars and conferences and has published work on arbitration in several legal journals.
Filipe
Vaz Pinto
Filipe Vaz Pinto is a lawyer, partner at Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva, where he is the co-heard of the firm’s dispute resolution team and a member of the Board of Directors.
He obtained his law degree at Nova School of Law where he also attended the academic part of the Doctorate Program in Law.
He has an LLM from the University of California, Berkeley.
Francisco Pedro Balsemão
Francisco Pedro Presas Pinto de Balsemão is the CEO of Impresa. Previously (October 2012) he acted as Impresa’s COO responsible for Human Resources, Legal Affairs and Sustainability, as well as Company Secretary.
He is graduated in Law at NOVA University Lisbon and has a Master Degree in Law (Magister Juris) by Oxford University (UK). He was Council Member of the NOVA School of Law between 2018 and 2022.
Francisco has begun his career as an Associate at Linklaters and later as a Human Resources Consultant in Heidrick & Struggles. He joined Impresa in 2009 as Human Resources Director. Before, he was Assistant Attaché in the Portuguese Mission to the United Nations (New York), having worked in the 3rd Committee (Human Rights).
João Maria Botelho
João Maria Botelho is a FORBES 30 under 30 in the areas of Sustainability and Social Innovation. Leader and Founder of Generation Resonance (international movement in cooperation with the United Nations Association Portugal).
Holder of the National Prize for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship and a Specialization in ESG and Climate Change Regulation Law from WHARTON and Católica Law.
He is also a member of the WEF Global Shapers team.
Marcelo Zenkner
Marcelo Zenkner is the Managing Director of FTI Consulting in São Paulo, a professor at Link School of Business, and an author of several books.
He served as Executive Director of Governance and Compliance at Petrobras, enhancing the company’s compliance program.
He was a partner at TozziniFreire Advogados and served as a Prosecutor in Espírito Santo, leading investigations against organized crime and corruption.
He also leads the Integrity Culture Committee of the UN Global Compact Network Brazil.
N'Gunu Tiny
N’Gunu Tiny has been the founder, president, and CEO of the Emerald Group since 2010, a diversified investment group. He chairs the Strategy and Sustainability Council of Banco Millennium Atlântico since 2024 and is the founder and executive president of BANKO Financial Group since 2019.
With a law degree from Universidade Nova de Lisboa and research at Harvard and LSE, Tiny is also an author and recognized for his philanthropic contributions and leadership.
Sofia Riço Calado
Lead Privacy Counsel for EMEA markets at Cloudflare; Fellow of Information Privacy by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), as well as IAPP Lisbon Chapter Co-Chair during 2023-2024.
Executive Educator at Nova SBE. LL.M. in IP Law and Management from the Center d’Études Internationales de la Propriété Intellectuelle (CEIPI), University of Strasbourg.