Steliana van de Rijt-Economu is a Diversity&Inclusion thought-leader and a seasoned leadership (team) coach with 20 years of cross-regional and cross-industries experience with international companies such Shell, Vodafone, Nike). She joined IOC in 2021, when she left corporate life and transitioned into the life of an independent executive coach and social entrepreneur for Mothers as Leaders.

She wrote her first book ‘Mothers as Leaders’ while traveling the world as a corporate leadership development faculty, nursing a small baby and sharing the joys of a dual-career marriage. She saw her personal situation as a Romanian—Dutch mother working in London, as an unique opportunity to study the impact of cultural expectations on women ‘s leadership ambitions after becoming mothers. She interviewed mother-leaders from 14 cultures, 4 continents and all walks of life and captured their life story. Due to her book contribution to the definition of feminine leadership, Steliana received the 2019 global corporate award from WIN ( Women International Network conference) at the Athens Global conference.