[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1586197115242{margin-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our expert speakers, generously share their knowledge in specialized fields such as science-innovation-medicine-technique-art, and many more trendin topic.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Sercan
Çelebi
Co-Founder, Oy ve Ötesi (Vote and Beyond), Civil Society Volunteer
Biography
“A crucial development triggered by the Gezi uprising was a sudden change of topic in conversations among friends: from “Where is this country heading to?” to “So what are we doing, friends?” Youngsters from all walks of life—previously deemed apolitical—decided to become active agents in a process which touched their lives. For the first time, young people from my generation realized that they were not alone and could make a difference by acting together, revealing an immense energy for change.”
For several decades and their corresponding generations in Turkey, politics has been the least preferred career option for the country’s talent. However in the aftermath of the Gezi resistance, things began to change for Turkey’s youth and Sercan Çelebi was one of the central non-partisan figures who stood in the epicenter of the change.
Under Sercan Çelebi’s leadership “Oy ve Ötesi” (Vote and Beyond) movement was formed with three concrete, concise and objective targets that presented an opportunity to train country’s forgotten muscle of collaboration toward impact. Those three targets were voter turnout, transparency around individual candidates and independent election monitoring.
Furthermore, the “Ötesi” (Beyond) component of the foundation conveyed a clear glimpse of Sercan Çelebi’s vision that the fundamental approach and mechanisms of the foundation could readily be replicated into any area of civic engagement in democratic processes. A vision that indeed made “Oy ve Ötesi (Vote and Beyond) the sustainable grassroot NGO that it is today after the last years’ elections marathon.
In the past five elections which took place within a space of only two years, Oy ve Ötesi (Vote and Beyond) trained more than 170,000 volunteers across Turkey, monitored all five elections to different extents in the front lines and cross-checked the aggregated official results with a state-of-art software developed by Oy v Ötesi volunteers.
Who is Sercan Çelebi
A graduate of German High School in Istanbul and Yale University, Sercan Çelebi is the co-founder, spokesperson and chairman of Oy ve Ötesi Foundation (Vote and Beyond) – an independent and non partisan election monitoring organisation that emerged ahead of Turkish local elections in 2014 as a completely voluntary initiative. From tomato and pepper agriculture in İzmir to energy investments, from social media and big data analysis to management consultancy in New York, Çelebi has a vast array of multinational management experience in different industries. A McKinsey & Company alumni, Sercan Çelebi has done a significant number of project work for both multinational clients and public sector across continents. In his free time, he practices martial arts. Sercan Çelebi speaks English, German and Spanish.
Speech Topics
Leadership
What is leadership?
Creating value in people’s lives
Strategy
Team-work
Forming the dream-team
Team-coordination / System set-up
Motivating your team
Civil Society
Organizing volunteers
Motivating volunteers
Creating social value
Inheriting a sustainable NGO
The alchemy of “grassroot” movements in Turkey
Mass Communications
Engineering a winning mass communication strategy
Engaging masses in cause-related marketing campaigns
Ecological Entrepreneurship / Agricultural Start-ups
Social Entrepreneurship – An ecological perspective
Yale Graduates make great farmers
Startups
Are you ready to start your own business?
From a good idea to a good organization
What do #Startups need other than your money? Timely insights for investors
Erkan
Yıldırım
Founder and CEO at alwiser, Digital Transformation and Innovation
Biography
Erkan Yıldırım is the owner and the founder of alwiser Digital Transformation Management Consulting. He is also an investor and senior partner at Medron Teknoloji, a leading IoT company that develops sensors, gateways and smart object tracking solutions.
He has been in company boards as a COO for the last 6 years, including top e-commerce companies in Turkey such as 1V1Y.com and trendyol.com. While Mr. Yıldırım was GM Deputy at Boyner Retail Group, he constructed a digital transformation program for Beymen,
composed of numerous company wide projects and applications that yielded seven-fold growth in e-commerce revenues within few years that carried the online revenue ratio to 15% from 3% within three years. As a senior manager at Mercedes-Benz Turk A.Ş. and Danone Turkey, he was responsible for managing supply chain and
logistics operations in Turkey.
Mr. Yıldırım works with corporations to help them in creating company wide digital transformation programs. His specialty is to build omni-channel transition programs for retailers and e-commerce strategies for startups or grown companies. As a consultant, he has built, developed and re-organized companies and strategies,
including mid-size e-commerce companies, e.g. ciceksepeti.com, incehesap.com. In a recent project at Tekzen A.Ş. a home and appliances company with more than 100 stores, Mr. Yıldırım is building the omni-channel digital transformation roadmap, by
applying a unique framework developed within alwiser Consulting Group.
Mr. Yıldırım earned his MSc in Industrial Engineering and Operation Research with Technology Management emphasise from University of California at Berkeley in 2002, upon a BS from Boğaziçi University in 1998 and an MSc from University of Pittsburgh in 2000. He tutored Ph.D. level classes at Pittsburgh and Berkeley.
Speech Topics
- Digital transformation
- Corporat Transformation Strategies
- Creating Business Models
- Leadership
Olcay
Silahlı
Social Enterprenuer,Co-Founder & CEO at Fazla Gıda
Biography
Who is Olcay Silahlı?
Graduated from İstanbul Teknik University Management engineering co-founder and CEO at Whole Surplus firm, a B2B Tech Platform enabling retailers manage their unsold inventory with best financial and environmental recovery value. The platform of B2B waste, help companies decrease the financially non sold stock resource and environmental nonefficients.
Silahli prior to forming his own company has worked as trade marketing manager and food brand manager for various products at Unilever. He has wide experince in social work and youth projects, such as Coordinating Ambassador Europe & Returning Ambassador Bangkok’15 Su
Speech Topics
- Waste Food Management
- Fight Against Hunger and Poverty
- Setting a Social-Technology Initiative
- Suggestions for Social Entrepreneurs
Gül
İrepoğlu
Architect, Art Historian, Writer
Biography
Prof. Dr. Gül İrepoğlu studied architecture at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts. When she was a doctoral student, she started to work as an assistant at the Department of Art History, Faculty of Letters in Istanbul University. She completed her doctorate in 1984. She became an associate professor in 1991, a full professor in 1997. She gave her classes on “the Renaissance Art”, “Baroque Art”, “Neoclassic and Romantic Art”, “European Art in the 19th century”, “Ottoman Art in Westernization” “Comparative History on Art” and “Ottoman Miniature Art”.
Prof. İrepoğlu retired from Istanbul University after she served 26 years. She has numerous publications on the Painting Art in the 18th – 20th centuries, Portrait of Ottoman Sultans, Artistic relationship between East and West and History of Jewelry.
Prof. İrepoğlu is the board member of UNESCO Turkish National Commission as well as the chairperson of special committee of Cultural Heritage. She is also the trustee and the chairperson of TAÇ foundation (Türkiye Anıt Çevre Turizm Değerlerini Koruma Vakfı). She has prepared and presented television programs “Şehir Mekân” and “Sanat Mekân” on TRT2 between 2005 and 2007. Prof. İrepoğlu is also a fiction writer and has published many books such as: “Gölgemi Bıraktım Lale Bahçelerinde” (2004), “Cariye” (2007). She has given conferences in Turkey and abroad.
Selected books:
Feyhaman Duran, (Istanbul 1986).
Levnî, Nakış-Şiir-Renk / Levnî, Painting Poetry colour, (Istanbul 1999).
Padişahın portresi: Tesavir-i Ali Osman / The Sultan′s Portrait, Picturing the House of Osman, (as co author), (Istanbul 2000).
Lale Devri′nin bir Görgü Tanığı: Jean-Baptiste Vanmour/ An Eyewitness Of The Tulip Era: Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, (Istanbul 2003).
Gölgemi Bıraktım Lale Bahçelerinde, (Istanbul 2004).
Zeki Faik İzer, (Istanbul 2005).
Cariye, (Istanbul 2007).
Özhan
Atalay
Management Consultant
Biography
Özhan Atalay helps companies save their future and he is an expert on issues of loss and high costs. Atalay, ex-general manager of Century 21 Turkey, makes presentations and provides consultancy services on niche areas including sales rules, psychology of human behavior and leadership. He has a book named Guide to Failure for Managers and teaches people how to make a difference in competition for business success.
Atalay played a role in reorganization of many companies and helped them in reaching the right information, detecting mistakes, developing practical solutions, taking action and getting results. Atalay makes brilliant speeches to professionals seeking constructive solutions in the business world and he is recognized as an expert in increasing efficiency, profitable growth, recovering companies, reducing costs, institutionalization, course change, making companies profitable, organization and change of strategy.
Atalay started his career at STFA İnşaat A.Ş. and went to England for language training after his military service. He came back to Turkey and joined the team involved in opening Swissotel Istanbul. He founded Skor Management Consultancy and provided services on installation of IT/ERP systems, increasing efficiency, financial consultancy and international tax planning. With his English partners, he adapted the global EPR system Omicron Financials to Turkey under the name Skor Financials, provided sales and maintenance services and sold the company four years later to continue his career in other fields of expertise.
Who is Özhan Atalay?
Özhan Atalay, born in Istanbul, was graduated from the Business Administration of Istanbul University. Atalay serves as CFO at Teknoloji Holding, Assistant General Manager at Schindler Asansör AŞ, General Manager at Premdor Masonite Kapı Sanayi AŞ, Assistant General Manager at Muratlı Karton A.Ş. and General Manager at Vega Services Inc.
He is an expert on companies which fail to make profit although there is no problem with the business model as well as those which want to increase profits. Atalay serves as Independent Professional Board Member as per the new TCC and CMB. He is married and a father of two.
Speech Topics
– How to prevent drivers of loss for companies?
– Cost reduction, profit increase, market share growth, profitable growth for profitable companies
– Institutionalization, standardization
– Increasing efficiency, reducing costs
– Saving a company
Wilco Van
Herpen
Traveler, Photographer, Cook, Journalist, TV Producer
Biography
Wilco van Herpen, represented by Indeks Speaker Agency, is a modern-day traveler and cook as well as an accomplished photographer. He is on occasion referred to as the Northern traveler”, “avid adventurer, “enthusiastic foodaholic”, or “extraordinary photographer”.
Wilco van Herpen is a Dutchman who has settled in Turkey for long time. He has taken a fancy on this country, to which he came by coincidence, and never left. Wilco van Herpen lives and works in Turkey since 1999 and has a quite adventurous life. Wilco van Herpen is a speaker in demand by people in search of extraordinary stories from a different perspective. Wilco van Herpen gives speeches on exciting life stories, travel adventures, breaking habits, cliche-free photography, extraordinary culinary tastes and many other issues on life. He also continues to produce TV shows and participate in photograph exhibitions.
Born in Bussum, the Netherlands, Wilco started cooking in his early days following the footsteps of his father and worked as a cook for 17 years after the culinary academy. He then studied photography and started to work in this area. He came to Turkey in 1999. He started here as a photographer but changed course to TV shows he produced for TRT, TV8, TRT Avaz, IZ TV, NTV and CNN Türk. After working as a production and camera assistant for Coşkun Aral’s “Haberci” team for long time, he produced “Kaçış Planı” for TRT2. Kaçış Planı was a start for Wilco. He made a strong connection with the Turkish audience with “Wilco’nun Gözü” on TV8, “Wilco’nun Karavanı” on IZ TV, “Wilco’nun Seçimi” on NTV and “Yabancı Değil” on TRT Avaz and he was granted with the “Modern Evliya Çelebi” award in 2011 for his documentaries and travel shows.
“Wilco ile Pazar Pazar AB” on Skytürk360, “Yemek Takımı” on Kanal D, “Wilco Yollarda” on CNN Türk as well as “Wilco ile Yaşasın Yemek”, “İki Göz Bir Şehir” and “Wilco’nun Karavanı” Iz TV are ongoing. In his shows, he always maintained his sincerity and explained Turkey from the perspective of a ‘foreigner’, a gourmet and an artist in a funny, humanistic, environmentally-conscious manner.
Who is Wilco van Herpen?
He was born in 1963 in the Netherlands. He followed his father’s footsteps and started as a cook. While working as a cook for a hotel in the Netherlands, he came to Turkey for the first time in 1988 with his girlfriend of Turkish origin. He started photography after he went back to his native country. He travelled in South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho and returned to the Netherlands as a freelance photographer. Wilco worked as a freelance photographer for the Dutch media and took photographs during the Gazi District incidents in 1995. This was his first connection to Turkey. In 1999, he decided to come to Turkey and live in Istanbul. He served as the representative of the Dutch state television in Turkey. He also worked as a chef for a number of restaurants. From 2011 to 2014, he had a column at Hürriyet Daily News. Wilco Van Herpen is a documentary producer, cook, photographer and journalist, continues to take part in exhibitions and slide shows and gives seminars.
Speech Topics
– The unbearable lightness of breaking a habit
(Surprising consequences of travelling, leaving your comfort zone, discovering different cultures, experiencing the daily habits of other people in the context of their socio-cultural circles. Unpredicted striking effects of travelling on personal development and relations. Discovering the limitlessness of your spiritual limits as you back away from your physical boundaries.)
– Exceptional culinary experiences: Different tastes, experiences to break down your culinary prejudices
(Contrary to the trendy gourmet tours, breaking the limits and monotony of the well-known tastes and points of interest, changing the concept of being a tourist into a local of the region, following the ordinary people and discovering local tastes on the streets, small shops and local markets.)
– Cliche-free photography: Striking and obscure shots from life
(Journeys specific to those who wish, rather than seeking for the best light, weather condition, depth, frame, material or model, listening to the voice of the soul in search of extraordinary shots right in the middle of the ordinary and simple.)
– A poetic journey to stop the time: Photography
(The art of photography from 80s to contemporary times from Wilco Van Herpen, professional photographer. Remarkable artists he met, countless photography travels… The journey of photography, arguably the form of art most effected and inspired by the technologic improvements and the digital boom which made its way to the daily lives of everyone. Reasons and consequences of the keen interest in photography by almost every person.
– My home: Turkey-the country I was not born in
(Turkey from the perspective of a Northern traveler. A person who lives, falls in love, becomes a father here, lover, father, artist, traveler, photographer, journalist, cook… What he likes and hates most, what he is tolerated for, what he is loved, blamed, alienated for… Out-of-the-box perspectives from a 20-year experience in Turkey…)
Dilek Cindoğlu,
Prof. Dr.
Ph.D, Professor of Sociology and Acting Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Abdullah Gül University, Turkey
Biography
Previously, she worked at Mardin Artuklu University and Bilkent University. She is a graduate of Bogazici University, Istanbul (B.A. and M.A.) and received her Ph.D. (1991) State University of New York at Buffalo. She has published extensively on the gendered processes of paid work, political participation, migration, health and sexuality in international journals and in book chapters. She was a Visiting Senior Scholar at the IRWAG of the Columbia University of New York (2010-2011), received, “Direct Access to the Muslim World” award from the Fulbright Visiting Specialist Program (2006) was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Gender and Sexuality at the NYU (2003),and Senior Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford (2002), was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1998-1999).She was consultant on various research projects funded by national (Tubitak, KSSGM, AAK) and international (IDRC, Ford Foundation, World Bank, ILO-IPEC,EU) bodies, served as an elected EC member at Turkish Sociological Association, (TSA) 2008-2014 and International Sociological Association (ISA) 2010-2018. Her work has been published at national and international academic journals and as book chapters.
Speech Topics
- Sociology of Work
- Women’s Participation in Business
- Why Women stay at Home?
- Why so few women in working life?
- Political Sociology
Serhan
Bali
Writer, Musician
Biography
Bali is the founder and editor in chief of the Opera and Ballet newspaper of the State Opera and Ballet Directorate of Turkey since 2011. Writing for the national press for over 10 years, Bali has also been the classical music columnist of the Radikal newspaper in Turkey since 2002. Also working as an editor in the music publishing field, Bali was the editor of pianist Fazıl Say’s latest book in Turkish named Yalnızlık Kederi-The Sadness of Loneliness. As an active radio producer, after working in Turkish Radio Television-TRT for several years, he now spends his time in producing and presenting music programs on Borusan Klasik, a 24 hours classical music radio channel in Istanbul. Bali took part in the advisory board of the Istanbul Music Festival between the years 2007-2009. During the previous years Serhan Bali has been an active participator in the meetings, conferences, panels all over the world in which the rich classical music tradition and the active classical music life in Turkey is being assessed. One of these recent meetings was organized by the BBC Radio 3 on 29th of July, 2014 in the Royal College of Music where Bali was one of the panelists talking about the recent developments in the classical music life of his country with good and bad aspects. Alongside the editorship of the Andante, Serhan Bali continues to write for the national and international press including the Opera magazine of UK of which he’s a regular contributor from Turkey. He’s also the presenter and scriptwriter of a documentary series on the Turkish channel IZ TV which has the topic of great composers and their birth cities.
Who is Serhan Bali?
Born in Ankara in 1973, Serhan Bali, after graduating from the Political Science and International Relations department of Istanbul University in 1995, finished his master thesis in the field of late diplomatic history of the Ottoman Empire. After working several years as a professional in the private sector, he began publishing the only nationwide classical music periodical in Turkey named Andante in 2002. As both the publisher and the editor in chief of Andante, Serhan Bali, alongside other respected editors and classical music journalists of several European countries, is among the jury members of the International Classical Music Awards-ICMA (www.icma-info.com) which gives awards to the best classical music recordings every year.
Speech Topics
Archive Culture in Classical Music
Baroque Period
The Birth of Piano
Classical Period in Music
Love and Sexuality in Classical Music
Romantic Period in Music
National Schools and Intercultural Interaction in Classical Music
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