Maria João Gomes is Partner at Odgers Berndtson in Portugal, where she also assumes the role of Director for talent consulting business in Ray Human Capital. With more than 20 years of experience in people management and organization, Maria João was HR Lead at Sonae Modelo Continente of commercial food, fresh food and international areas, and at Sonae Investment Management where she held an HR global responsibility, including Europe, USA, Latin America and Africa. Maria João was the founder of Umanism Ativism, where she also had the role of Executive Director. Maria has also been a guest lecturer at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. She began her career at the Korn Ferry / Hay Group where she developed projects in the area of HR Consulting for about a decade. Maria holds a degree in Business Administration from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa.