Beatrice Cernuta joins Elitek12 from EY-Parthenon in Dubai

Former EY-Parthenon Director Beatrice Cernuta has joined education organisation EliteK12 as Group Strategy Director. She arrives with a decade of experience working in the strategy and education fields.

EliteK12 is an organisation providing international education to global Chinese citizens. Having formed partnerships with Hurtwood House – one of the most prestigious private sixth-form colleges in the UK – and Bullis Charter School in the US, the group’s main educational brands include the HD and HT self-owned PreK-12 bilingual schools, and the Athena Academic English reading center, among others.

As EliteK12 looks to meet surging demand for English-language education from Chinese students, the firm has installed former strategy consultant and private educator Beatrice Cernuta as its Group Strategy Director. Bringing almost a decade of experience to the role, Cernuta will now help EliteK12 continue to push for growth, even amid the economic and political upheaval wrought across the world by Covid-19.

Commenting on her new role, Cernuta commented via LinkedIn, “I am leaving EY-Parthenon with a heavy heart and with immense gratitude to clients and colleagues for the opportunity I have had… From my first conversations with the Elite K12 team, I was struck by the organisation’s clarity of vision and determination to stay true to a deep sense of purpose and its core values, even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic… These are the times when staying close to the needs of students, the voices of parents, the tireless work of educators and remaining in tune with socio-economic and political shifts can allow us to find opportunities for meaningful and sustainable growth.”

Earlier in her career, Cernuta spent a total of four years with EY-Parthenon – the strategy wing of Big Four professional services firm EY – working across the firm’s offices in Mumbai and Dubai in that time. Most recently, she was Director of the group’s MENA Education Practice – supporting clients across a range of projects, ranging from government transformations, to commercial due diligence work, to strategic planning and operational improvement.

Cernuta also led the opening of a special needs clinic network in the UAE, and the opening of a specialist K-12 school in another previous role. Spending four years with Tarbia as Director of Strategy and Operations, she set up a further expansion pipeline for the venture organisation, honing key skills which will assist her in her latest role. She also has notable experience as an Educator in her own right, having led classes in Classics and Debating at the UK’s prestigious Eton College.