Board of Directors

  • Ana Cabral Gardner
    Ana Cabral Gardner
    Co-Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer

    Ana Cabral-Gardner is co-chairperson and co-CEO of Sigma Lithium, a Canadian company dedicated to powering the next generation of electric vehicle batteries with environmentally sustainable and high-purity lithium.

    Since 2018, Sigma Lithium has been producing battery-grade sustainable lithium concentrate at its on-site demonstration pilot plant in Brazil’s Minas Gerais region, while executing a sustainability roadmap to support decarbonization and reach net zero emissions by 2024. Sigma Lithium is traded on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchanges as SGML.

    Ana is also a managing partner and co-founder of A10 Investimentos, a Brazilian private equity boutique focused on sustainable investments and M&A advisory in consumer healthcare. The A10 FIA Proprietary Fund is the controlling shareholder of Sigma Lithium, one of the largest hard rock lithium companies in the world.

    Ana has over 25 years of experience as a senior banker at global investment banks in New York, London, and Sao Paulo and has over 15 years of experience as a venture capital investor. Prior to founding A10, Ana was head of Latin American Capital Markets at Goldman Sachs in New York. She has also held senior positions in investment banking at Merrill Lynch in London and New York.

    As a venture capitalist, Ana was a co-founder of an internet portal sold to GP Investimentos in early 2000. Afterward, she advised several boards of media and technology companies on digital strategies, including: Lojas Americanas.com (later merged with B2W), Turner Broadcasting Latin America and Nova.com (later ViaVarejo.com)

    She holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and a master’s in finance degree from London Business School. She currently serves on the Global Board of Advisors of Columbia University Global Centers.

    Ana is one of the 10 original co-founders of Mulheres do Brasil with Luiza Trajano, a leading brazilian businessperson and one of the world´s 100 most influential people. Mulheres do Brasil is the country´s largest advocacy organization with over 96,000 active members, focused on women-oriented policy-making, with branches in 10 countries.

  • Gary Litwack
    Gary Litwack
    Independent Board Member
  • Federico Marques
    Federico Marques
    Independent Board Member
  • Dana Perlman
    Dana M. Perlman
    Independent Board Member

Technical Consultants

  • Vicente Lobo
    Vicente Lobo
    Co-Chairperson of Technical Committee
    Vicente Lobo is trained as a mining engineer and has over 30 years of experience in executive roles at major Brazilian natural resource companies, including as COO of Bunge Fertilizantes and COO of Vale Fertilizantes. He also served as Secretary of Geology, Mining and Mineral Transformation at Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, where he was responsible for the program that included the creation of Brazil’s current mining regulator Agência Nacional de Mineração (ANM) and for updating the national mining code, which was a landmark event for the development of the Brazilian mining industry. He is currently Managing Partner at the mining consultancy firm Lobo Engenharia.
  • Wes Roberts
    Wes Roberts
    Co-Chairperson of Technical Committee

    Wes Roberts, M.Sc., P.Eng., MBA is a professional mining engineer with over 35 years of experience specializing in the economic evaluation and development of mineral deposits. Wes is a Director of Empress Royalty, Sparton Resources, Golden Share and Canadian Gold Miner. Over his career, he has gained extensive experience in mineral exploration, mining operations, project engineering and management as well as diverse mining engineering experience that includes precious metals, base metals, iron ore and industrial minerals. Wes has held numerous positions in the mining industry, which include Canada Talc Limited, Derry Michener Booth & Wahl, Davey International, Bharti Engineering, GMP Securities, Inco Ltd, Breakwater Resources Ltd (VP Corporate Development) and VP Mining to the Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie LLP. Since then, he has held positions as Mineral Engineering Consultant with the American law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Mineral Engineer for Gravitas Mining Corp and most recently as Mining Engineer at Principle Capital Partners. Wes holds a B.Sc. (Mining Engineering) and M.Sc. (Mining Engineering) from Queen’s University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) from the Schulich School of Business (York University).

  • Maria José Sallum
    Maria José Sallum
    Chief Sustainability Officer
    Maria is a prominent environmental and social responsibility professional in Brazil. She has held a number of roles during her 40-year remarkable technical career in public service and in the private sector. In public service, her roles included Director of Sustainable Development in Mining at the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Senior Representative for the Ministry at the National Council for the Environment (CONAMA). She was also the second woman in 60 years to serve as Deputy Minister of Mining and Mineral Transformation at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Maria has had an active academic career, holding several senior roles at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), a centre of excellence for mining and metallurgy research in Brazil, including Head of Department for Mining Engineering. She has a PhD in mineral technology. Since retiring from public service in 2018, Maria has worked as a consultant, advising some of the largest global mining companies on environmental matters in Brazil.