The Board is appointed by the General Assembly and is composed of representatives of each Member. The Board, under the chairmanship of the President, defines the policies and strategies of GD4S.
Board
Laurence Poirier-Dietz
President
Laurence Poirier-Dietz is Chief Executive Officer of GRDF, the main French gas Distribution System Operator, since June 2021. She started her career at EDF GDF Services, then joined GRDF in 2004 notably in the Western region then the headquarters where she contributed to the setting-up of the business development and the territorial relations metiers. In 2012, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer of CLIMESPACE, the company operating the district cooling system of Paris. In 2016 she was appointed Deputy CEO of ENGIE Ineo, a subsidiary of ENGIE specialized in the domain of electrical installations, the smart city, and smart networks, before joining the Industry Business Unit of ENGIE Solutions in 2020 as Deputy CEO.
Jeroen Sanders
Vice-President
Jeroen Sanders (b. 1973) is the company's Chief Transition Officer (CTO). In this position, he focuses entirely on the energy system of the future and the role of digitization and data in it. Jeroen has held various management and board positions in the Enexis Group, including the position of IT Director from 2017. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of Endinet, Sustainability Manager at Fudura and held various management positions at Edon and Essent.
Dan Pantilie
Member of the Board
Dan Pantilie has been CEO of Distrigaz Sud Retele since 2008 and Chairman of the same company since October, 2022. He has a long-standing experience in the natural gas field as he has started his career in this sector in 1984. He held different management positions within Distrigaz Sud, the natural gas distributor and supplier for the south part of Romania before the activities’ unbundling in 2008; among the most important ones, the positions of development director (1998-2002) and deputy general director (2005-2008). Between 2002-2005, he was chairman of the Romanian Regulatory Authority in the Natural Gas Sector (2002-2005). He is also Chairman of Depomures, a Romanian Gas Storage Operator. Dan Pantilie graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest and holds a Ph.D in engineering sciences on the topic “Contributions regarding the study of the mechanism of explosions”.
Barbara Morgante
Member of the Board
Barbara Morgante is the Chief Executive Officer of Enaon. Born in Livorno, she graduated in Statistical Sciences and Economics at the University of Bologna and obtained an MBA degree in Economic Development for the Advanced Tertiary Sector. From 1988 to 1995, she worked as a corporate management consultant, working primarily in the Transport, Construction and ICT and for Public Administration sectors. In 1995, she joined TAV (Treno Alta Velocità) as Marketing Manager. In 1998 she moved into the Commercial Department of the Infrastructure Division of Ferrovie dello Stato Group. Thereafter, she held a number of different positions in companies of the FS Group. She was Chief Executive Officer of Trenitalia SpA from December 2015 to September 2017. She has been a member/chairperson of several BoDs of both Italian and foreign companies, and is currently in the BoD of Italgas Newco, Rai Way and Finint Infrastrutture SGR Società di gestione del risparmio.
Gabriel Sousa
Member of the Board
Gabriel Sousa is Chief Executive Officer of Floene Energias since November 2016, after becoming member of the Board and General Manager in August 2015. In January 2013, he joined Floene Energias as Head of Third Party Access Management. With more than 20 years in the natural gas distribution sector, before arriving to the Holding Company, he has been CEO of Lusitaniagás (the biggest Portuguese DSO in volume of natural gas distributed) since September 2007 and Head of Commercial Management of the same DSO between 1999 and 2006, after joining the company in 1995, since the beginning of the natural gas project development in Portugal. Before entering the natural gas sector, he worked in the automotive and metallurgical industries, during two years. Gabriel Sousa holds a Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidade de Coimbra and an Executive MBA from AESE/IESE.
Cathal Marley
Member of the Board
Cathal Marley was appointed to the Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) Board in April 2019 and is a member of the Finance and Investment Committee. He joined GNI’s former parent company Ervia in 2016 as Chief Financial Officer and was appointed CEO in 2020. He has over 20 years’ experience in the utilities and infrastructure sector, having worked in senior roles across the electricity, water and gas sectors. He holds an MBA from Michael Smurfit Business School in Dublin and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a member of the DCU Governing Authority, a member of the Board of the Irish Management Institute (IMI) and a Board member of Swim Ireland. His early career was spent with EY in Dublin and Eastern Europe.
Paolo Gallo
Member of the Board
Paolo Gallo is Chief Executive Officer and General Manager at Italgas as well as Chairman of its main subsidiary, Italgas Reti. He was born in Turin in 1961. He is a professional with a diverse background in engineering and business administration. He holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and an MBA from the Scuola di Amministrazione Aziendale (SAA -Università degli Studi di Torino). Gallo's career spans across various sectors. He started at Fiat Avio S.p.A. in 1988 and spent 13 years there, holding positions of increasing responsibility. He played a pivotal role in consolidating all electricity generation activities for the Fiat Group at Fiat Energia, where he served as CEO until 2002. His journey continued with notable roles at the Edison Group, where he served as Director of Strategy and Innovation before becoming General Manager and CEO of Edipower. He led Acea S.p.A., a Italian multi-utility company, from 2011 to 2014, followed by a stint as CEO of Grandi Stazioni, overseeing its privatization. In August 2016, Gallo took on the role of General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Italgas, further solidifying his position as a respected leader in the energy industry. With his wealth of experience and strategic acumen, Gallo continues to drive innovation and transformation in his field.
Raúl Suárez
Member of the Board
Raúl Suárez is Chief Executive Officer of NEDGIA, S.A. since December 2022. He started at the Naturgy Group in 2000, undertaking work in Electrical Distribution and Construction Projects in Spain and Nicaragua. He initially focused his career on the field of Grid Development, before taking on the role of Head of Projects and Logistics in the GAS NATURAL FENOSA Shared Regulated Business Services Department, between 2009 and 2014. In early 2014, he was appointed as Director of Gas Natural Andalucía, the multinational’s distribution subsidiary in Andalusia, managing the Spain Gas Distribution System Management Department. In 2018, Mr Suárez took the role of Director of UFD, the department in charge of the group’s electricity distribution. Raúl Suárez is a Senior Civil Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and has several postgraduate degrees in energy business management.