Young Portuguese volunteer elected president of Europe’s largest student network focused on mobility

 

Ana Rita Dias, president of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Portugal, assumes a leadership position as president at the international level during General Assembly in Braga, Minho.

 

From April 28th to May 1st 2023, ESN Minho hosted the biannual General Assembly of the Erasmus Student Network, a statutory event where international decisions are made by the network’s representatives, including the election of the six members of the international board for the 2023/2024 term and other statutory bodies. Elected president of ESN AISBL, Rita Dias will be the third Portuguese volunteer on the international board, and the second in this position.

Originally from Lisbon and currently living in Peniche, Rita has a degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Beira Interior (UBI) and a master’s degree in Public Policy from ISCTE-IUL. After her Erasmus in Leuven, Belgium, she joined the local ESN Lisbon section in 2018, where she completed her journey as local president in 2021. In the past two years, she has led the national board of ESN Portugal as president and has participated in more than a dozen international events as a facilitator on education and mobility topics.

For Rita, “the international network of ESN allows for a huge impact on the mobility experience of any young person and promotes a unique open dialogue with key European programme partners”. As president of ESN International, she will be at the centre of this discussion and will have an active role in achieving the vision of the European Union.

Her election is a testimony to her ability and dedication to the Erasmus Student Network, and the Portuguese Federation is grateful for all her work, with the certainty that it will continue in this new phase.