Officers and Directors

Virgilio Deloy Capobianco Gibbon. Virgilio Deloy Capobianco Gibbon serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Afya, a position he has held since 2016. Under his leadership, Afya successfully executed its Initial Public Offering on the Nasdaq in 2019.  Since the IPO, the company has experienced significant growth, expanding its operations and solidifying its position as a leader in medical education in Brazil.

In recognition of his contributions to sustainable development, Virgilio was honored by the United Nations as an Impact Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, in 2023, he was named the Best Executive in the Education Sector in Brazil by Valor 1000.

Prior to his tenure at Afya, Virgilio held several key positions:

• Chief Operating Officer at YDUQS (formerly Estácio Participações S.A.) from March 2010 to March 2012.
• Chief Financial Officer at YDUQS from March 2012 to June 2016.
• Executive Director of Business Consulting and Education Industry at TOTVS from October 2007 to December 2009.
• Senior Manager of Business Consulting at Accenture from 2000 to 2007.

Virgilio holds a degree in Economics from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ) and has completed executive management programs at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), Stanford University, and Harvard University.

Lélio de Souza Junior is our Vice President of Innovation & Digital Services, a position he has held since January 2022. Prior to joining us, he served as CEO for Intelie for 5 years, where he had the chance to support the internationalization of the company, the acquisition process by RigNet (later on acquired by Viasat, NASDAQ: VSAT) and to experience a very well succeeded growth history. Prior to that, Lelio served as a Corporate Officer at TOTVS from 2008 – 2016 and also as Senior Manager in Accenture from 2000-2008. Lelio holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and executive programs degrees from University of Wharton, Pennsylvania, USA and Insper, São Paulo, Brazil.

Luis André Blanco is our Chief Financial Officer, a position he has held since April 2020. Prior to joining us, he served as CFO for OdontoPrev for 10 years, where he oversaw corporate finance – treasury, financial planning, M&A, tax and accounting operations, legal and compliance. Prior to that, Luis served as a Financial Officer at Vivo S.A. from 2003 to 2009 and also as CFO at Tele Centro – Oeste Celular Participações from 2000 to 2003. Luis holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and an executive program degree from University of Westminster, London, England.

Nicolau Carvalho Esteves is co-chairman of our board of directors, a position he has held since May 2022 after having held the position of chairman since July 2019. He is a qualified orthopedist and has over 25 years of experience in the education industry. He was the chairman of the board of directors of Afya Brazil from August 2016 to December 2019, when the board of directors of Afya Brazil was extinguished. He is the founding shareholder of the following companies, for which he served as Chief Executive Officer for the periods indicated (i) ITPAC—Instituto Tocantinense Presidente Antônio Carlos S.A. (1999-2016); (ii) ITPAC Porto—Instituto Tocantinense Presidente Antônio Carlos Porto S.A. (2008-2016); (iii) IPTAN—Instituto de Ensino Superior Presidente Tancredo de Almeida Neves S.A. (2003-2016) and (iv) Instituto de Educação Superior do Vale do Parnaíba S.A. (2016-2018). He is also a member of the board of directors of Emive Participações S.A, a position he has held since January 2024. He holds a Medicine degree from Faculdade de Medicina de Barbacena, a master’s degree in business administration from FGV, a master’s degree in Corporate Finance from Fundação Dom Cabral, a master’s degree in business administration from FEAD and a Business Administration degree from AIEC.

Kay Krafft is co-chairman of our board of directors, a position he has held since May 2022 after having held the position of director since August 2021. He is the founding CEO of Bertelsmann Education Group. Until 2014, he was Chief Investment Officer of music rights management company BMG, building up the company from a start-up to a major player in the music industry through acquisitions as well as the establishment of an international presence. Before joining BMG’s Executive Board, he served as EVP and global head of M&A at Bertelsmann while implementing major portfolio adjustments during this time. Prior to joining Bertelsmann, Kay Krafft was a partner at professional services firm Deloitte.

Benedikt Dalkmann is a member of our board of directors, a position he has held since May 2022, in addition to being Chief Financial Officer of Bertelsmann Education Group. He has played a formative role in developing the Group since its foundation in 2015, including the expansion of Relias into a major player in U.S. healthcare education through acquisitions, as well as the establishment of an international presence. Before joining the Education Group, Benedikt worked as Director of Strategy & Investments at Bertelsmann Group. Other experiences include a period in Venture Capital at Holtzbrinck, and in management consulting.

Christina Krebs is a member of our board of directors, a position she has held since May 2022, in addition to being the Chief People Officer of Bertelsmann Education Group and the Chief People Officer at Relias, a Bertelsmann Education Group company. Since 2020, Christina held multiple roles at Relias including VP, Client Care and VP, Integration, where she helped integrate multiple healthcare technology companies into the Relias portfolio. Before joining Relias, Christina was a partner at the professional services firm, ScottMadden Management Consultants.

Renato Tavares Esteves is a member of our board of directors, a position he has held since July 2019. He was a member of the board of directors of Afya Brazil from August 2016 to December 2019, when the board of directors of Afya Brazil was extinguished. He served as executive officer of the following companies: Instituto de Educação Superior do Vale do Parnaíba S.A., UNIVAÇO—União Educacional do Vale do Aço S.A., IPTAN—Instituto de Ensino Superior Presidente Tancredo de Almeida Neves S.A., ITPAC—Instituto Tocantinense Presidente Antônio Carlos S.A., and Instituto de Ensino Superior do Piauí S.A.—IESP. He is also a member of the board of directors of Emive Participações S.A, a position he has held since January 2024. He holds a degree in medicine from Faculdade de Medicina de Barbacena, and a master’s degree in business administration and Corporate Finance from FGV.

Maria Tereza Azevedo is a member of our board of directors, a position she has held since April 2022. She joined Softbank LatAm fund in 2021 as Investment Director leading the Education industry. Prior to joining Softbank, she was an Executive Director at Santander and Director at UBS Investment Bank leading the TMT strategy and LatAm Education and the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications teams, respectively. She has extensive experience in helping LatAm companies access the equity capital markets and holds a master’s degree in Corporate Finance and a bachelor’s degree in economic sciences from IBMEC. Maria Tereza also serves as a board member of UOL Edtech, Descomplica, Camino Educação, Open Co, Glorify and Alice Saúde.

João Paulo Seibel de Faria is a member of our board of directors and an independent member of our audit, risks and ethics committee, positions he has held since August 2020. He is currently the CFO of OLX, a position he has held since August 26, 2020. He has 30 years of experience in companies like Arthur Andersen S/C, Ericsson Telecomunicações, Microsoft, Didi Chuxing, OLX and Patria Investiments. He spent 18 years at Microsoft in different leadership roles in Latin America and the U.S. in sales, marketing and in finance, including his last role as chief financial officer in Brazil. Mr. Faria holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from FAAP and an Executive MBA from Insper (both in São Paulo). Additionally, he holds several executive sessions in leadership, strategy and global business environment from Fundação Dom Cabral, INSEAD and Devry.

Vanessa Claro Lopes is a member of our board of directors and an independent member of our audit, risks and ethics committee, positions she has held since July 2019. She is currently an independent member of the board of directors of Lojas Americanas S.A., member of the fiscal councils of Cosan S.A.  and Comgas S.A., the chairperson of the audit committee at Tegma Logistica S.A., a member of the audit committee at Embraer S.A. and Lojas Americanas S.A and a member of the financial committee at Lojas Americanas SA. She was formerly the chairperson of the fiscal council of Via Varejo S.A. from 2014 to 2018, a member of the fiscal council of Terra Santa Agro S.A. from 2016 to 2018, a member of the fiscal council of Gerdau S.A. from 2016 to 2017 and a member of the fiscal councils of Estácio Participações S.A. and Renova Energia S.A. from 2017 to 2019 and Cosan Logistica SA from 2019 to 2021. With over 29 years’ experience in corporate governance and internal and external audits of large private and listed companies, she started her career in 1995 at PricewaterhouseCoopers in advisory services and was responsible for the creation of the revenue assurance specialists department in Brazil for the telecoms sector. She was an executive officer and the head of the internal accounting department of TAM S.A. from 2010 to 2014, an executive officer and the head of the internal accounting department of Globex Utilidades S.A. (Grupo Pão de Açúcar) from 2004 to 2010 and a coordinator and the head of the accounting department of Grupo Telefonica from 2000 to 2004. She holds an MBA from EAESP/FGV, a master’s degree in management systems from Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), a master’s degree in computer networks from São Judas University, an accounting degree from Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) and a systems analysis degree from FATEC/BS. She was formerly a professor of audit systems and information security at Objetivo University from 1997 to 1998.

Miguel Filisbino Pereira de Paula is a member of our board of directors and an independent member of our audit, risks and ethics committee and People & ESG Committee, which positions he has held since August 2020. He has over 30 years’ experience in C-level positions and serving on the advisory boards and boards of directors of large companies, such as Gerdau S.A., Votorantim Cimentos S.A., Yduqs S.A. and Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição d/b/a GPA). Miguel has held the position of director (since March 2024) and chairman of the people committee (since February 2021) at Loja do Mecânico, a privately held company, as is also an operating partner of private equity funds, such as Crescera Capital and EB Capital’s investees. In these companies, he has held positions such as executive director and/or vice president in the areas of human resources and management, and in business support areas, such as deliveries, shared service center, information technology and related areas. During his executive career, he has led major turnaround projects in companies and/or business units of these groups, always focusing on processes, people, new organizational concepts and governance models, and he has been directly and/or indirectly responsible for hiring and developing many executives for management positions in these organizations. Since January 2020, he has been involved in the advisory boards or boards of directors as well as head of human resources and ESG committees at several companies and private equity Funds. He holds a degree in business administration from Universidade Luterana do Brasil, an MBA in retail management from the University of São Paulo and an MBA in human resources management from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. He completed several courses in leadership and business management in Brazil, at the Kellogg School of Management: in the United States and at the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).

Marcelo Ken Suhara has a combined 26 years of experience in initial public offering advisory services, financial reporting, accounting and audit. He was a partner in the capital markets center at Ernst & Young in São Paulo from 2011 to March 2022. He also worked in the capital markets group at PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2001 to 2010, and in audit at Arthur Andersen from 1998 to 2000 and Coopers & Lybrand from 1996 to 1998. He has extensive experience in initial public offerings, equity and debt offerings in the Brazilian and international capital markets, and advised companies on financial reporting and regulatory matters on capital markets transactions, and on SEC rules and regulations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Pontificia Universidade Catolica and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universidade Paulista and is a Brazilian Certified Accountant registered at CRC – Conselho Regional de Contabilidade (Brazilian Regional Accounting Council).