- WHO WE ARE

We are volunteers from different walks of life, men and women, young and old.

We are active professionals, academics, business people, housewives, retirees, social activists and caregivers of the elderly.

WHO WE ARE

Members of the Board of Directors

Ferhat BORATAV Chair of the Board

Television journalist and information communication specialist

BIO

Ferhat Boratav (b.1959, Istanbul) is a television journalist and information communication specialist.

He graduated from Istanbul Erkek Lisesi and Boğaziçi University, Department of History. He studied the Turkish migration experience at the Université de Grenoble-II in France.

He started his journalism career in 1985 at the weekly news magazine Nokta. In 1987, he joined the BBC World Service Turkish Department as a producer and presenter. He returned to Turkey in 1992 and became the News Director of ATV.

In 1999, he joined CNN Türk as Editor-in-Chief, a position he held until 2019. At CNN Türk, he was responsible for editorial content and decisions, special broadcasts, especially elections, program development, talent development, operational budget, corporate communication projects and editorial relations with CNN International.

In 2012, he took a leading role in the development of Doğan Media Group’s editorial principles and wrote the Editorial Principles for the group’s TV channels.

He has been lecturing on television journalism, global journalism and copywriting for nearly 20 years and continues to organize training workshops with local media organizations. A member of the Advisory Board of the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship based at the University of Michigan, he organized Knight-Wallace fellows’ journalists’ trips to Turkey between 2005 and 2015.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Open Society Foundation of Turkey for over ten years until its closure in 2019, advising numerous social and cultural projects.

He is among the founders and directors of the “Yanındayız Association”, which aims to mobilize men for gender equality and the “Friends of Aşıklı”, which was established to support archaeological research and cultural heritage works. He is a trustee and board member of the Foundation for the Development of Cultural Awareness.

He is fluent in English and reads French and German. He writes on X at @ferhatboratav.

Rukiye DEVRES ÜNVER Vice Chair

BIO

Dr. Nazan UĞUR Secretary General

Academic | Executive | International Consultant & Trainer

BIO

Dr. Nazan Uğur graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1975 as the top of her class. She completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in polymer technology at METU and the University of Manchester, and worked as a university lecturer and researcher for 14 years.

In 1989, she transitioned into the private sector as Product Research Manager at Procter & Gamble. Her corporate career continued in leadership roles across P&G’s offices in Turkey, the UK, Belgium, and Switzerland, covering regions including Europe and the Middle East.

For nearly two decades, she served as European leader and global coordinator in diverse domains such as Product Research & Development, Innovation Management, Environmental and Health Safety, Stakeholder Relations with EU institutions, Global Crisis Management, Corporate Communication, Strategic Planning, and Brand Promotion Programs. During this time, she successfully led multicultural and multidisciplinary teams across countries.

She held executive roles on the boards of prominent organizations such as CIAA, ESA, EUFIC, ÇEVKO, and the Belgian-Turkish Business Association.

After returning to Turkey in 2010, she resumed her academic career at Sabancı University, delivering courses in Management Sciences. Currently, she provides strategic consultancy and corporate training services to institutions both in Turkey and abroad, focusing on leadership, communication strategy, international business culture, change, and crisis management.

Passionate about supporting young professionals in their careers, she also offers pro bono coaching and mentoring.

Based on her personal experience caring for aging family members, she developed a strong interest in healthy aging, elderly rights, and active aging. She actively follows scientific and social developments in this field and believes it is a priority area for social responsibility.

As a result, in 2025 she joined the Executive Board of the 65+ Elder Rights Association, one of Turkey’s most active NGOs in the field of aging and elder advocacy.