Board of Directors

Michael Hibberd

Chairman, Independent Director

Mr. Hibberd is currently Chairman of the Board of ‎Canacol and brings over 40 ‎years of industry and senior ‎leadership experience to the Corporation. For ‎over 27 ‎years, Mr. Hibberd has been Chairman and ‎CEO ‎of MJH ‎Services Inc., ‎‎a corporate ‎finance advisory ‎firm. He is ‎also ‎currently Vice Chairman of ‎‎Sunshine ‎Oilsands Ltd., ‎Chairman of PetroFrontier ‎Corp. and ‎‎serves as a ‎board ‎member of CanAsia Energy Corp. ‎Formerly, he ‎‎was ‎‎Chairman of ‎Heritage Oil Plc, Heritage ‎Oil ‎Corporation ‎and Greenfields Petroleum ‎‎Corporation; ‎and former ‎director of ‎Montana Exploration ‎Corp., Avalite ‎Inc., ‎‎‎Challenger Energy Corp., Deer ‎Creek ‎Energy, ‎‎Iteration ‎Energy Ltd., Pan ‎Orient Energy Corp., Rally ‎Energy ‎Corp., ‎Sagres ‎Energy, ‎Skope Energy Inc. and Zapata ‎Energy ‎‎‎Corporation‎‎. Mr. Hibberd holds a BA and an MBA from ‎the University of Toronto and ‎an LLB from Western University. He is also a member of the Law ‎Society of Upper ‎Canada.

Charle Gamba

President, CEO & Director

Mr. Gamba is currently the President and Chief Executive ‎Officer of Canacol, a role ‎he has held since he founded ‎the Corporation in 2008. Mr. Gamba has 29 years of ‎‎international oil and gas experience, and has previously ‎worked for Imperial Oil, ‎Canadian Occidental Oil and Gas, ‎Occidental Petroleum, and Alberta Energy ‎Company in ‎Southeast Asia, the Middle East, West Africa, Canada, ‎and Latin ‎America. He has served on the board of ‎directors of several publicly listed and ‎private oil and gas ‎companies where he held positions on the ESG, audit, ‎‎reserves, HSE and compensation committees. Mr. ‎Gamba currently sits on the ‎board of the Asociación ‎Colombiana de Petroleo and Naturgas, two industry ‎‎groups that form upstream, midstream and downstream ‎policy for the oil and gas ‎industry in Colombia. Mr. Gamba ‎holds a B.Sc., an M.Sc., ‎and a Ph.D. in ‎Geology‎‎‎.

David Winter

Independent Director

Dr. Winter is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of ‎‎each ‎of Horizon ‎Petroleum Ltd. and ‎Miramar ‎‎‎Hydrocarbons Ltd. He is also a Director of Nevada Lithium Resources Inc.  ‎He was a co-founder of ‎Canacol. ‎Previously, Dr. ‎Winter ‎was the ‎Founder, Chief ‎Executive ‎Officer ‎and Director ‎of Excelsior Energy ‎Limited, an oil ‎‎sands focused ‎exploration ‎‎company. Dr. ‎Winter brings 40 ‎years of international ‎experience ‎in a ‎variety ‎of ‎technical, ‎management and ‎leadership roles ‎living and working in ‎Latin ‎‎America, the Middle ‎East, ‎‎Southeast Asia and the ‎UK North Sea. His ‎experience ‎‎was gained ‎working at ‎British Petroleum, ‎Sun ‎Oil, Canadian ‎‎Occidental,‎ Alberta Energy Company, ‎‎Calvalley ‎‎‎Petroleum and Excelsior Energy Limited. Dr. ‎‎Winter holds a ‎B.Sc. (Hons) in ‎‎Geology ‎from the ‎University of  ‎London, an M.Sc. in ‎Structural Geology ‎‎and Rock Mechanics from ‎‎Imperial College, University of ‎London and a Ph.D. in ‎Structural ‎Geology ‎from ‎‎Edinburgh University‎‎.

Francisco Diaz

Independent Director

Mr. Diaz has close to 30 years of experience as an ‎international executive ‎and ‎general manager. Mr. Diaz is ‎currently the Managing Partner at ‎Evolvere Capital ‎SAS, a ‎private equity firm ‎that ‎‎manages various ‎‎‎portfolio ‎‎companies in Colombia, Latin America, and ‎‎‎Spain. He is ‎also ‎‎the Chairman of the Board and ‎Chair of ‎the Audit ‎Committee ‎of ‎Systemgroup, a financial ‎‎‎‎services company ‎which operates ‎in seven Latin ‎‎‎‎American countries. Mr. ‎Diaz previously occupied the position of ‎‎President and ‎Chief Executive Officer for Organización Corona SA, and ‎‎various ‎executive positions for Monsanto Company ‎including President ‎of the Global ‎Food Ingredients ‎Division, Vice President of Global ‎Strategy, and Vice ‎President ‎and General Manager for Latin America. Mr. ‎‎Diaz currently leads a foundation that ‎provides nutrition to ‎more than ‎‎45,000 disadvantaged children in Colombia. ‎Mr. ‎Diaz ‎‎received an ‎undergraduate degree in Chemical ‎Engineering from ‎Northeastern ‎University, a graduate ‎degree from the J.L. Kellog Graduate School of ‎‎‎Management at Northwestern University and a graduate ‎degree from Hult ‎‎International Business School.

Gustavo Gattass

Independent Director

After 20 years in the banking industry covering the oil and gas and power industries, Mr. Gattass is now a board member of several energy and power companies. Having started working in the equity research department of Banco Icatu, Mr. Gattass later moved to UBS and BTG Pactual, where he was ranked a top analyst in energy and power for many years and where he ran the bank’s LatAm research and development department from 2009 onwards. Upon leaving BTG Pactual in 2015, Mr. Gattass joined the boards of Petrobras and its fuel distribution subsidiary BR Distribuidora, and later joined a number of other boards in the energy, power and water utility space. Mr. Gattass holds a degree in Economics from PUC-Rio‎‎.‎‎‎‎

Silvestre Tovar Leopardi

Independent Director

Mr. Tovar Leopardi brings over 33 years of senior leadership experience in the banking, automotive and telecommunication industries.  His expertise extends to legal and business affairs, banking and capital market regulation, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.  Mr. Tovar Leopardi is currently the Managing Partner of Escritorio Tovar – Lange S.C.P. and he is the CEO of Iveco Group Venezuela, C.A. and Inversiones Popolis, C.A.  Mr. Tovar Leopardi is also a director of Corporación Digitel C.A., and DP Delta Finance B.V. (Netherlands).  He holds a Law degree with a specialization in Administrative Law from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.

Valentina Garbarini

Independent Director

Ms. Garbarini has more than 10 years of experience as Finance Director at the Cisnero Blavia Family Office leading the finance and legal affairs ‎departments internationally and focusing on the areas of ‎energy, telecommunications and social responsibility. ‎She is also a board member of Corporación Digitel C.A., a ‎telecommunication company in Venezuela. She was a ‎board member of the Universidad Iberoamericana in ‎Bogotá, ambassador of the Sino PLPE Federation in ‎Macao, of Fundación Unidos en Red and of GEN ‎Global. Ms. Garbarini graduated cum laude in ‎Business Management, Marketing and International ‎Studies from ‎Bentley University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Audit Committee

  • Michael Hibberd
  • Francisco Diaz
  • Gustavo Gattass
  • Silvestre Tovar Leopardi

Compensation Committee

  • David Winter
  • Michael Hibberd
  • Valentina Garbarini

Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee

  • Silvestre Tovar Leopardi
  • Michael Hibberd
  • Francisco Diaz
  • Gustavo Gattass

Reserves Committee

  • David Winter
  • Charle Gamba
  • Gustavo Gattass

ESG Committee

  • David Winter
  • Francisco Diaz
  • Michael Hibberd
  • Valentina Garbarini