Message from CEO
Ritjana Ceveli is the CEO and founder of ERC International, a leading diversity inclusion theme focused executive search operating today in 4 countries & servicing clients across 15 markets across emerging markets & diversified sectors focusing on bringing more women at leadership levels, boardrooms as well as bringing more GCC talents such as Emiratis, Saudis, and Omanis to the workforce.
Passionate, out-of-the-box thinker, and resourceful. These are three words that can aptly describe Ritjana. Her dynamic leadership and communication skills helped her reach extreme heights, and by pushing past stereotypes she is actively involved with gender diversity and inclusion of women on boards. Her passion for this project has gained her membership at the 30 percent club, a global campaign led by Chairs and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels. Being an entrepreneurial visionary, Ritjana has been appointed as the Chairwoman for strategic alliances for the EO Accelerate program in UAE and a member of the Advisory Board for Youngship UAE, an NGO focusing on the Maritime industry in the UAE.
Ritjana’s diversified exposure across numerous industries and emerging markets from her early days as an investment manager has instilled in her the capability to contribute significantly to various businesses across emerging markets by ensuring that the right talents are placed to drive these businesses forward. Her keen interest in start-ups and entrepreneurship is reflected in her company, ERC International, which serves over 50 start-ups across the MENA Region, Africa, as well as the Balkans, covering several industries, from automotive to supply chain to logistics and healthcare and education technology. Her expertise in this field also gained her a position at Microsoft for start-ups Middle East as their Program Mentor.
Ritjana started her career in London after graduating from the London School of Economics (back in 2002 covering Global Emerging Markets Equities at Aberdeen Asset Management as an investment manager. She moved to Dubai in 2006 to continue her career with Naeem Asset Management, Dubai Investment Group, Masdar, and run successfully various investment funds in the Islamic Asset Management for a family office before embarking on her entrepreneurship road some 6 years ago. She started three businesses in 2016, and today she has sold and exited two of them and is focusing on building and growing ERC brand across EMEA and Asia. Throughout her 13 years of career journey, she has acquired invaluable knowledge around industries, strategies, operating models, and markets stretching all the way from Indonesia down to South Africa and Hungary, which have helped her exposure and success today in building talent pools across markets and seniorities to support the growth of her client’s businesses.