About Tomás Adão da Fonseca
Tomás is a strategy and sustainability professional with over 20 years of experience across top-tier consulting, corporate leadership, and entrepreneurship.
He began his career at Roland Berger before joining BCG in Lisbon, where he spent nearly 11 years rising from Associate to Partner. At BCG, he led major transformation and strategy engagements across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, in sectors including energy, consumer goods, and healthcare. Notable mandates include coordinating a 30-person cross-continental team on a large-scale organisational transformation for a major US energy company, delivering $1.5B in annual recurrent savings, and a multi-year strategic redesign for Angola's principal state-owned energy conglomerate.
Following BCG, he joined Nuvigroup as Director of Strategy and Business Development, building and leading a corporate strategy function within a $1B multi-continent FMCG conglomerate operating across Portugal and Africa.
Most recently, he served as Head of Sustainability, Strategy, and Incentives at Aurora Lithium, a joint venture between Galp and Northvolt developing a circa €1.2B lithium hydroxide refinery in Portugal. He led the project's sustainability strategy, structured EU and national incentive applications (securing the EU STEP Seal), and advised the Board and Executive Committee on strategic priorities.
Alongside his corporate career, Tomás co-founded Pyck, a sustainable laundry start-up offering drive-through services at commuter-convenient locations, combining operational innovation with a commitment to community and environmental impact.
He holds a Master's in Civil Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, is fluent in Portuguese and English, and works professionally in Spanish and French.
Having navigated strategy at scale, built and exited a start-up, and led a major infrastructure project from inception to close, Tomás brings to NOVA's ecosystem the kind of experience that spans both sides of the table: the boardroom and the founding team.
Why I mentor
Supporting the next generation of talent to maximise their potential.
Networking with future leaders and entrepreneurs.