- 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.
Founding Members
Alan DUBEN
Ayşe DOĞRUER
Banu CANGÖZ
Bilge RİZVANİ
Deniz İLKİN
Ender BERKER
Ferhat BORATAV
Gonca ARTUNKAL
Gülüstü SALUR
Günay GÖKSU ÖZDOĞAN
Güsel BİLAL
Hale BOLAK BORATAV
İpek İLKKARACAN AJAS
Kaynak SELEKLER
Mehmet ATAKAN
Mehmet Şükrü SEVER
Neşe ÖLÇER
Reşit CANBEYLİ
Rukiye DEVRES ÜNVER
Rümeyza KAZANCIOĞLU
Sevda BEKMAN
Ufuk AKIN
Yahya LALELİ
BIO
Studied psychology at the University of Evansville (USA) and Bogazici University; graduated in 1985. Received her master degree in Social Psychology in 1989. Doctoral dissertation titled “Effectiveness of the education about communication skills.” Received her PhD from Middle East Technical University in 2000. Member of the team of European and sole practitioner licensed in Turkey.
BIO
Gonca graduated from Robert College in 1985. Received BA in economics from Oglethorpe University and completed master’s degrees at London School of Economics and Bogazici University. Presently Group Country Head of UBS Turkey. Prior to joining UBS in 2012 was head of Turkish Corporate and Investment Banking at Citibank and Societe Generale. Has also held senior positions at Morgan Stanley and Chase Manhattan Bank. Is married and has one son. Is member of Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR), an organization that aims to promote women’s human rights, equality and non-discrimination in Turkey and on the international level.
BIO
Received BS degree from University of Virginia. Earned MS and MBA degrees from Columbia University. Is a businessman and entrepreneur. Is currently Turkish director for Canyon Ranch of Arizona in their resort and residences project near Bodrum.
BIO
Received doctorate from University of London in Child Development. Currently a retired professor, Boğazici University, Istanbul. Founding member and consultant to AÇEV ( Mother-Child Education Foundation). Main interest lies in area of early childhood intervention and main contribution to the area has been in the development of intervention programs for children who are developmentally vulnerable and for their parents. Has also directed and contributed to various research studies on the effectiveness of intervention programs. Has worked as a consultant for national and international agencies. Has various articles published in national and international journals and a book summarising her work in the area of intervention entitled “A Fair Chance”.
BIO
Graduated from Robert College in 1958 and studied at Istanbul University Medical Faculty. Was the Turkey representative of EFIC for a time. Has published over 100 journal articles on pain and rehabilitation as well as book chapters on those issues.
BIO
Earned a degree in history from Istanbul University. Worked at TUSLOG for three years and has been working at the Turkish Educational Foundation (TEV) since 1967. Is vice chair of TEV and the director of their education department. Has received awards from many foundations, including the Turkish Women’s League of America, DAAD, Rotary Club, and the World Newspaper.
BIO
Graduated from Robert College. Completed undergraduate degree in psychology at Boğazici University. Earned doctorate in Social Psychology at University of California, Santa Cruz – USA. Taught at university in the USA until 1998. Thereafter, serves as head of Psychology Department at Istanbul Bilgi University. Has several publications in peer reviewed journals nationally and internationally.
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.
Nazan MOROĞLU
Born in 1947 in Istanbul, she studied at the German High School and Istanbul University Faculty of Law. She completed her master’s degree in Women’s Law at Istanbul University. Her master’s thesis on “Women’s Surname”, the first academic study in this field, was published in 1998.
Moroğlu is Turkey’s first expert on Women’s Law and teaches the course “Women’s Human Rights Law”. (2002-2014 Yeditepe University Faculty of Law; 2014 -… MEF University Faculty of Law).
Moroğlu is one of the founders of İ.Ü. Law Faculty Education Foundation, where she is a member of the Board of Directors, and the German Liseliler Culture and Education Foundation (ALKEV).
She is a founding member of the European Women Lawyers Association (EWLA). She is the founding president of TUBAKKOM – Women Law Commission of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations.
She was the legal advisor of the “End Domestic Violence” campaig, a joint project of Hürriyet Newspaper, ÇEV Foundation and the Governor of Istanbul.
Moroğlu is the Vice President of the Istanbul Bar Association (2018-2022 period), Coordinator of the Istanbul Women’s Organizations Union (2004-2024 period), Board Member of the Family Planning Foundation of Turkey (2014-2024 period), Board Member of the Nazım Hikmet Foundation, Board Member of the Secular and Scientific Education Platform- LABEP, Advisory Board Member of the Yanındadayız Association, and Vice President of the Lawyers Foundation.
BIO
Received doctorate in Chemical Engineering (1968) and Psychology (1977) from Columbia University. Between 1976 and 1982 taught at Boğaziçi University. Between 1989 and 1993, worked as a researcher at Columbia University. Has been teaching at Bogaziçi University since 1994. Established psychobiology lab at Boğaziçi University, a venue for research and educational activities.
BIO
Born in Ankara, 1967. Graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Literature as a best performing student. Awarded İhsan Doğramacı ‘excellence in teaching award’ in 1988.
Undertook postgraduate studies in experimental psychology at Hacettepe University in 1991 and completed her doctorate in same field in 1997. Established the “Cognitive Pschology Practice Laboratory”. Recipient of Turkish Gerontology Award. Served as vice president of Turkish Psychology Association (TPA), 2008-09. Between 2004 and 2014, representative of TPA at European Federation Psychological Association (EFPA)’s Geropsychology Working Group. Assistant manager and co-chair of Hacettepe University Psychology Department. Active in Hacettepe University Geriatric Sciences Practice and Research Center (GEBAM) since 2009. Major Fields of interest are cognitive psychology, cognitive aging and neuropsychological assessment. Author of numerous scientific publications.
BIO
Rukiye Devres Ünver was born and raised in Istanbul. After completing her BA and MA in Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and working in the USA for a while, she returned to Turkey and founded Rukiye Devres Architecture. She worked with the Aga Khan Foundation in Pakistan and China on developing ‘financially, socially and environmentally sustainable pilot projects for low income communities’.
After the 1999 earthquake, she founded the YAY Foundation and realized the Beriköy project in collaboration with ÇEKÜL Foundation, Habitat for Humanity International and MIT. Since 2006, Devres Ünver has been managing the family business she founded and is an active member of Hisar Education Foundation in addition to the associations and foundations she is a member of. She is married and has four children.
BIO
1963 Yılında o zamanki adıyla Amerikan Kız Koleji (Robert Kolej) den mezun olmuştur.
İstanbul Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesini 1967 yılında tamamlamıştır. 1970 yılından beri Serbest Avukatlık yapmaktadır.
Hukukçu olarak birçok Derneğin kuruluşunda çalışmalar yapmış ve Yönetim Kurullarında çalışmıştır.
Robert Kolej Mezunlar Derneğinde 1980 yılından itibaren Yönetim Kurullarında görev almış ve Yönetim Kurulu Başkanlığı yapmıştır.
Bekardır, iki evli oğlu vardır.
BIO
Born New York City, 1943. PhD,1973 in social anthropology, University of Chicago. Taught at NYU, Boğaziçi University, Hamilton College, Istanbul Bilgi University. Served as Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Director of Center for International Programs, and Vice Rector at Bilgi University. Consultant for OECD, USAID, and World Bank projects in Turkey. Author of books and scholarly articles in journals and edited volumes on urbanization, family, and the elderly.
BIO
Graduated from T.E.D. Ankara College in 1967. Has had extensive experience as private sector executive. Presently retired. Since 1989 has been working with numerous NGOs on educational issues. Also works as a family constellation facilitator since 2014. Since her husband’s death from Cortica Basal Ganglion Degeneration (CBGD), a type of dementia, has applied her experience in that respect as a group therapist and advisor to relatives and care-givers of individuals suffering from dementia.
BIO
Professor in the Faculty of Management, Istanbul Technical University. Has published on the economy of labour, political economy, development, gender mainstreaming, and economics, both in national and international journals. Serves as expert on Turkey for the European Network of Experts on Gender Equality. Also serves as board member of the Middle Eastern Economics Association and as a member of the Feminist Economics Journal publication committee. In addition to academic work, has served as a volunteer with various NGO’s.
BIO
Rector of Bezmialem Vakıf University & Faculty Member of Internal Medicine, Department of Nephrology
Personal Profile
Prof. Dr. Rümeyza Kazancıoğlu was born in 1967 in Istanbul. After graduating from Robert College in 1985, she started Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. She was graduated in 1991 and completed her Internal Medicine and Nephrology subspecialties at the same faculty in 2001. In 2000, as a fellow of the International Society of Nephrology, he worked at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Transplantation Unit for six months. After starting to work at Haseki Education and Research Hospital, Ministry of Health in 2001, she became an associate professor in 2003. She worked as the Deputy Chief of the 5th Internal Medicine Clinic of the same hospital between 2003-2005 and as the Founder and Chief of the Nephrology Clinic between 2005-2010. Prof. Kazancıoğlu has been continuing her duty as Rector of Bezmialem Vakıf University since 2010. Since 2012, she is a member of TUKMOS.
Prof. Kazancıoğlu is a member of Turkish Society of Internal Medicine, Turkish Society of Nephrology, European Renal Association and European Dialysis and Transplant Association, American Society of Nephrology, International Society of Nephrology, American Society of Transplantation, European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association, International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis. She has been the president of the Istanbul Branch of the Turkish Society of Nephrology since 2012. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Turkish Kidney Foundation and serves on the project development board.
Prof. Kazancıoğlu has won national and international awards, including the Best Young Investigator Award (European Renal Association and European Dialysis and Transplant Association) in 2001. She has authored numerous national and international articles, books and book chapters.
She is married and has 1 child.
BIO
Born in 1939. Graduated from the Medical Faculty of Istanbul University in 1964. Specialized in the biochemistry at the Medical Faculty of Hacettepe University in 1967. Currently professor of nuclear medicine and biochemistry and founder and manager of Duzen Laboratories Group. Founder of the War on AIDS Society; also a member of the Turkish Biochemistry Association, the Turkish Hematology Association, and the Turkish Benefactors Association.
BIO
Graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University. Has been residing in Istanbul since 1974. Member of Lions International Bebek, Asiyan since 1995; has served as chair since 1997. Subsequently served as regional chair. Member of both Pharmacological Vigilance and The Turkish Pharmacists’ Association.
BIO
Professor in the Department of the Political Science and International Relations, Marmara University. Received an MBA from the London School of Economics in 1975 and a PhD in political science from Bogazici University in 1990. Has numerous publications in both national and international journals.
BIO
Born in Istanbul in 1966; graduated from the Medical Faculty, Istanbul University. Completed specialization in the department of ITF Neurology between 1992 and 1998 followed by further specialization in behavioral neurology and movement disorders. Among the founders of the Alzheimer Association in Turkey. Undertook further studies under Prof. Marsel Mesulam at Northwestern University, Chicago between 1998 and 2002. Since 2003 working as a private practitioner specializing in cognitive neurology, dementia, and movement disorders. Is also a part-time instructor at Bogazici University. A member of study group on the standardization of neuropsychological tests in Turkish. She populates interns in these fields. Continues as member of the Alzheimer Association. Founder of 65+ Elder Rights Association along with others dedicated to elder issues.
BIO
Graduated from the Medical Faculty, Istanbul University. Undertook studies at The National Hospital, Queen Square between 1975 and 1976. Became associate professor of neurology in 1979 and has been a professor since 1988. Founding member of the Turkish Neurological Society, founding member of the Alzheimer Association of Turkey. Has also played a role in the foundation of the Ankara branch of the association. Prof. Selekler is the author of over 150 publications in both national and international journals and other sources, largely focusing on issues concerning CAT scan, aphasia, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia.
BIO
Specialized in Internal diseases and received his degree from Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty in 1982. Participated in the Cleveland Clinic Foundation studies of transplantation nephrology in 1990. At the same time began working as medical advisor and academic coordinator in the Turkish Kidney Association. Has still been at these possessions . Also serves as moderator of the Emergency and Disaster Medical Care Committee of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health.