Joao is the Secretary of Digital Policies, at the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (SECOM). He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (2018), a master's degree in Regulation and communication policies from the London School of Economics (2006) and a degree in Social Communication with specialization in Radio and TV from the University of São Paulo (2001).

He was Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Culture from 2015 to 2016 and special advisor at the Municipal Secretariat of Culture in São Paulo in 2013 and 2014. Before that, he worked for 10 years in civil society organizations, on topics such as freedom of expression, telecommunications infrastructure and Internet rights. He provided consultancy to UNESCO, Ford Foundation, Global Partners, OBSERVACOM, among other institutions.