Board of Directors

Ambassador Roger Noriega has been an independent director since 2012, and a member of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors since 2021. He has extensive experience in Latin America. Amb. Noriega was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and served from 2003 to 2005. In that capacity, Amb. Noriega managed a 3,000-person team of professionals in Washington and 50 diplomatic posts to design and implement political and economic strategies in Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Prior to this assignment, Amb. Noriega served as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States from 2001 to 2003. Since 2009, Amb. Noriega has been the Managing Director of Vision Americas, a Latin America-focused consulting group that he founded. Amb. Noriega has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washburn University of Topeka, Kansas.

Stephen R. Petersen, CFA has been an independent director since 2021 and a member of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors since 202. Mr. Petersen has over 40 years of experience in capital markets and investment management. Since 2013, he has been a Managing Director and member of the Investment Committee at Prio Wealth, an independent investment management firm with over $3 billion in assets under management. Previously, Mr. Petersen served as Senior Vice President, Investments at Fidelity Investments for approximately 32 years. During his tenure at Fidelity, Mr. Petersen served as a Portfolio Manager and Group Leader of The Fidelity Management Trust Company and was responsible for managing several equity income and balanced mutual funds such as Fidelity Equity Income Fund (1993-2011), Fidelity Balanced Fund (1996-1997), Fidelity VIP Equity-Income Fund (1997-2011), Fidelity Puritan Fund (2000-2007), Fidelity Advisor Equity-Income Fund (2009-2011), and Fidelity Equity-Income II (2009-2011). He began his career at Fidelity as an Equity Analyst. Mr. Petersen received a B.B.A. in Finance and an M.S. in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr. Petersen serves on the Board of the University of Wisconsin Foundation and Chairs its Investment Committee. He also is Co-Chair of the Executive Committee for the Catholic Schools Foundation Inner-City Scholarship Fund. Mr. Petersen is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Cassiopeia Olson, Esq. has been an independent director since 2021, and a member of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors since 2021. She is an attorney with extensive experience in international contracts and venture negotiations. She has represented or engaged in transactions with leading companies, including Credit Suisse, UBS, Apollo Group, Universal Music Group, Sony, Chrysler/Jeep, Stella Artois, Miller Brewing Company, General Motors, McDonald’s, and Verizon, among others. From 2013 to 2017, Ms. Olson was at Brighton Capital Ltd, and from 2017 to January 2021, she was an attorney with Kaplowitz Firm, PC. Since February 2021, Ms. Olson has been an attorney with Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LP. She received a B.A. in Economics and Finance from Loyola University in Chicago, and a J.D. from The John Marshall School of Law.

Marc Fogassa has been a director and our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2012. He has extensive experience in venture capital and public company chief executive management. He has served on boards of directors of multiple private companies in various industries and has been invited to speak about investment issues, particularly as related to Brazil. Mr. Fogassa double majored at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), graduating with two Bachelor of Science degrees in 1990. He later graduated from the Harvard Medical School with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1995 and also from the Harvard Business School with a Master of Business Administration degree in 1999 with Second-Year Honors. At Harvard Business School, he was Co-President of the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club. Mr. Fogassa was born in Brazil and is fluent in Portuguese and English. Mr. Fogassa is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jupiter Gold Corporation and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Resources Corporation, two companies in which we own equity positions.

Mr. Menck joined the Board of Directors in August, 2024. Mr. Menck served as an advisor to Atlas Lithium since September 2023 covering a range of topics including operational readiness and interface with institutional investors. Previously, from January 2023 to July 2023, Mr. Menck was the Chief Financial Officer of Sigma Lithium Corporation, a Canadian publicly listed company with lithium projects in Brazil in the same mineral district as those of Atlas Lithium. During his tenure at Sigma Lithium, he successfully contributed to listing its BDR (Brazilian Depository Receipts) at B3, the local Brazilian stock exchange. He also worked in structuring the financial area to its first PCAOB audit review.

Between February 2019 and July 2022, Mr. Menck held the position of Senior Vice President of Finance & Group CFO at Nexa Resources SA, a NYSE & TSX listed company, controller by traditional Brazilian group Votorantim. Prior to that, he was the Global Treasurer at Nexa Resources from April 2016 to January 2019, responsible for the debt restructuring of the company, as well as acting as PMO for its IPO process, which was successfully concluded in October 2017.

From January 2011 to March 2016, Mr. Menck was an Investment Director at the Odebrecht group in Brazil, responsible for the structuring of project finance transactions of road concessions throughout Latin American, especially in Peru, Colombia and Panama. He was also responsible for the structuring of MLA (Multilateral Agencies) financing for landmark public constructions in countries such as Argentina, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.

From May 2008 to January 2011 Mr. Menck held positions at Braskem SA, a large Brazilian petrochemical company, initially as Debt Manager, from May 2008 to May 2010, and then as Corporate Finance & Shared Services Director, during which was responsible for several capital market transactions, such as bond issuances, local securitization funds structuring and day-to-day debt restructuring.

Prior to that, from January 1996 to May 2008, Mr. Menck had a 12-year career in several Brazilian and international banks based in Brazil, such as BankBoston, Banco Francês e Brasileiro, WestLB, Citibank and BNP Paribas, holding several different positions such as Trader, Trade Finance Manager, Securitization Officer, Product Manager, DCM & Export Finance Structurer and Relationship Manager, while covering a variety of clients in a diverse range of segments in Brazil.

He has a degree in Business Administration, and a MBA in Economics of the Financial Sector, both from the University of São Paulo in Brazil. Mr. Menck is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish and is a Certified CFO by the Brazilian Institute of Financial Executives in Brazil.