Anya Verkhovskaya came to the U.S. in 1990 as a 19-year-old political refugee from the former Soviet Union, and within a few years she launched a career as a rising star in business and management. Today, she runs her own legal support services firm, Class Experts Group.
When she arrived in the U.S., she enrolled at Molloy College in New York, where she completed a five-year degree program in only three years while learning English and juggling multiple paid and volunteer jobs.
In 1994, she joined Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation as a volunteer and soon rose to the post of regional director for Europe and Asia. In this position, Verkhovskaya established and opened new offices in 20 countries, recruiting and hiring more than 1,200 staff in legal, accounting, community relations, research, production, quality control, translation, data management, fundraising, public relations, education, human resources and volunteer management—all by the age of 25.
In 1999, she joined A.B. Data, Ltd., where she eventually became a partner, chief operating officer and member of the board of directors. During this period, she was tasked by the Israeli prime minister’s office with building the infrastructure for and leading Project HEART (Holocaust Era Asset Restitution Taskforce), a campaign that crossed 137 countries and documented 200,000 claims from Holocaust survivors and their heirs. The organization reached 15,000 nongovernmental organizations and created the world’s first online archival repository listing, which totals in excess of two million records.
She eventually left A.B. Data to join a law firm, DRRT, as the managing director. In this position, Verkhovskaya worked with institutional investors nationally and internationally in all facets of global securities litigation, claims filing and loss recovery. She also conducted claims filing audits and process reviews for institutional investors.
In 2017, Verkhovskaya launched her own consulting firm, Class Experts Group, LLC, which has demonstrated consistent growth and received numerous awards, including being named the No. 31 small business in the U.S. by the Small Business Expo.
Her guiding business philosophy? “Be humble, approachable, forgiving, innovative and inspiring to create a safe team work environment,” Verkhovskaya said. “Be a transformational leader and do not allow an ego to take part in any business practices.”
