[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1585140294563{margin-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our keynote speakers perform at all corners of the world. You can view their performances, please click.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1585169686613{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Leyla
Alaton
Alarko Holding A.Ş. Board Member
Biography
“Brave businesswoman, bright speaker… Brings you fascinating topics.”
Leyla Alaton is one of the brightest figures of Turkish business life. She comes from a strong tradition of family business. Alaton draws attention with her unique style and brave ideas. She works tirelessly to help women achieve success in their business careers and improve their social status in a self sufficient manner. Alaton specifically speaks on and helps larger audiences understand the issues of entrepreneurship, innovation and women employment with her vast experience.
Leyla Aaton was actively in business life since 1986 and climbed the steps up her career fast thanks to a sophisticated analytic skill. Following her education in USA, she started her career in 1986 at Alarko Holding, founded by her father Ishak Alaton and his partner Dr. Üzeyir Garih and managed promotion and marketing of Alkent – Etiler Uyduşehir and Alsit Villakent projects.
She was named as the “Businesswoman of the Year” by the National Center for Productivity in 1992.
She was listed among the “Leaders of the Future” at the Davos World Economic Forum in 1993. In the same year, she founded Megatrend Public Relations and Consulting Company. She provided consultancy service for global giants including Aérospatiale and Alcatel.
Alaton is an active member of many non-governmental organizations including GYİAD (Young Businessmen Association) Founding Membership, GIF (Global Relations Forum) Membership, New Museum, New York Leadership Council Membership, Make A Wish Association Board Membership, Darüşşafaka Education Institutions Consulting Committee Membership, Contemporary Art Istanbul Consulting Committee Membership, WPO (World Presidents’ Organization) Membership and “Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards” jury membership.
She was also a jury member of the TV show “Do You Have An Idea” where she helped young entrepreneurs with their fresh ideas using her years of experience.
Supporting women employment
Alaton is a known advocate for women in business and social life. She encourages entrepreneur women on many platforms she is involved in, whether as a speaker or an invitee, and takes active action through a number of organizations to achieve this goal. One of these organizations is KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association), where she is a founding member. Leyla Alaton is an active speaker in demand on issues of women’s rights, improvement of their social status and entrepreneurship on TV shows, college meetings and various other organizations.
Art-lover
Alaton is well-known for her enthusiasm in arts, in addition to her business career, as well as her collections and a sophisticated interest in painting and modern arts since her college days. Alaton has a unique approach to art: “Arts should tranquilize those who are confused and confuse those who are tranquilized”. Alaton is a member of Contemporary Art Istanbul Consultative Committee and has a huge collection of paintings.
Who is Leyla Alaton?
Leyla Alaton, born n Istanbul attended Şişli Terakki, Lycée Sainte-Pulcherie and Notre Dame de Sion schools. She has a Business Management degree from Fairleigh Dickinson College in USA.
She also holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from New York University. Alaton is a board member of Alarko Holding A.Ş., Alvimedica and Tıbbi Ürünler San. ve Dış Tic. A.Ş. Leyla Alaton was granted with Légion d’Honneur, the highest decoration in France, for her positive contributions to Turkish-French relations.
Speech Topics
-Women Employment- Women’s Rights
-Business World from a Woman’s Perspective
-Women’s Entrepreneurship
Elif
Dağdeviren
Producer, Communication Consultant
Biography
“It is important to maintain inner courage and excitement. I gained something new with every different thing I tried. You will get what you want if you try the right thing at the right time.”
Who is Elif Dağdeviren?
Dağdeviren received a degree in business administration from Hacettepe University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. As part of her university education, she completed a course on “American Sociology and Languages” at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. After receiving her degree in Turkey, she took a course on the “Business of Music” at Baruch College, New York. She began her career translating movie scripts for TRT during her university years.
Elif Dagdeviren has started her career as a film translator for national Turkish television, TRT and continued her career in media in various roles; reporter, editor in chief, television producer and moderator. She founded netbul.com; the first major online content company in Turkey. Which was followed by a film production company, hundred percent owned by Dagdeviren, specialising in television programmes and cinema films that has been a candidate for Oscars. She also co-founded a 4,000 person capacity concert venue and hosted 40 different international concerts.
While her company Edge All In One acts as an umbrella agency for film producing, communication and brand consultancy; she continues to take roles in different projects. She has been acting as the Director of International Antalya Film Festival which one was 51.-52. Ve 53., one the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in Europe. Her deep commitment to cinema inspired her to establish Cinema of Turkey with the mission to promote Turkey and Turkish Cinema globally.
She works in international projects as a “cultural ambassador volunteer” to further promote Turkish cinema. She is a guest writer and lecturer on new media. She gives consultancy on communication and brand management, and also on production stage of TV and cinema projects, lastly for developing ideas for internet.
Speech Topics
Communication
• Communication management
• Corporate Communications
• New Trends In Communication
– Innovation and Creativity
– Marketing
• Personal Branding
• Brand
• Brand Management
– About Life
– Work and life balance
– Culture – Travel
– Art
– Cinema and everything about cinema
– Technology
– Digital life
– Internet
– Personal Development
– Creativity
– Management
– Business Development
– Talent Management
– Conventional and Digital Brand Journey
– Motivation, Courage and Entrepreneurship
– Women and Entrepreneurship
Cem
Mansur
Musician, Founding Conductor, National Youth Symphony Orchestra
Biography
“A relationship similar to that between an orchestra and a conductor can be found anywhere involving a concern for making good use of time and particularly in disciplines where people manage and are managed.”
Orchestra conductors make for good leaders
Cem Mansur opposes the perception of music as a decoration of life. He is whole-heartedly convinced that a person who has been educated in classical music will have a totally transformed perception of life. He believes that making music as a group is an outstanding experience of teamwork and is an ideal example for a democracy. “Music is a miraculous way of bringing about peace and democracy. Playing in an orchestra affects your way of thinking. You get to learn about history and geography. Making music as a group teaches you how to live within a real democracy. It also inculcates in the participants a culture of bonding with and not excluding “the other”.” Being an orchestra conductor requires you to be a good leader. Mansur thinks that “a person deserves to be a leader if they can recognize the potential of the group of people under their management and who are able to motivate that group, to earn this leadership. This is sometimes a question of technical knowledge, sometimes about motivating and stimulating. In fact, someone who can combine these two can be a good orchestral conductor. It is difficult to make a definitive distinction such as ‘people are born leaders’ or ‘people become leaders.’ Both are possible. Circumstances can also turn a person into a leader. The things that happen to you in life, the things you have to do, can bring forward a leadership ability that the individual themselves may be unaware of”.
Who is Cem Mansur?
Cem Mansur studied music in London, graduating from City University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which awarded him the Ricordi Prize. He later studied at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. He was the conductor of the Istanbul State Opera between 1981 and 1989. He was the Principal Conductor of the City of Oxford Orchestra from 1989 until 1997. He was appointed as the resident conductor of Akbank Chamber Orchestra in 1998. Cem Mansur is the honorary head of Ipswich Choral Society, the second oldest choir in England, and founding conductor of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Speech Topics
- Leadership – balancing leadership and autocracy
- Management
- Motivation
- Problem solving
- Team spirit
Nasuh
Mahruki
Professional Mountain Climber, Writer, Photographer
Biography
He started mountaineering when he was 20 and high altitude climbing at 24. When he was 26, after completing the ascents of five 7000 meter peaks in Pamir and Tien Shan mountains, he became one of the few western climbers who are given the prestigious Snow Leopard title by the Russian Mountaineering Federation which is still not yet repeated by another Turkish climber. At the age of 27, he became the first Turkish and the first muslim climber in the world who has climbed Mount Everest. When he was 28, he completed the Seven Summits project which is climbing the highest peaks of each continent and among 45 climbers, he became the youngest climber in the world. He made the highest solo ascent of Turkey on 8201 m. high Mount Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world. He climbed 8516 m. high Mount Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in the world. He climbed 8611 m. Mount K2, the second highest and according to many, the most difficult and dangerous mountain in the world. All these 8000 m. climbs were first Turkish ascents and last three were without supplementary Oxygen. In 2010, he climbed Mount Everest again after 15 years.
He has made long overland motorcycling tours in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia and some of Europe.
He is doing motivational speeches on subjects like self improvement, leadership, team building, target orientation, persevarence, risk management and self actualization. He has also taught on these subjects at a university. He has written articles on various magazines and newspapers and also made documentaries on various TV channels.
He is the founder member and the president of AKUT (Search and Rescue Association). AKUT is a volunteer based search and rescue team. Nasuh Mahruki has founded AKUT in 1996 with a group of his mountain climber friends. It became the one and only team that has organized on search and rescue, before the devastating Marmara Earthquake that hit Gölcük and killed approximately 18.000 people on August 17, 1999. AKUT volunteers rescued 220 people under the collapsed structures. They were so effective and helpful for the victims during those very difficult days and Turkish people has chosen AKUT as the most trusted entity of Turkey. Today there are 36 AKUT units and about 1600 volunteers all over Turkey and more then 2220 people have either rescued or moved to safe environments by AKUT. AKUT has also rescued more then 1000 wild and domestic animals as well.
Nasuh Mahruki is also the founder member of Ortak İdealler Derneği (Common Purpose Association of Turkey), board member of ASHOKA Foundation in Turkey and he is a member of UGSAD (National Security and Strategic Research Association), TMOK (National Olympic Commity of Turkey), SAD (Underwater Research Association) and Travellers Club of Turkey.
He is a social entrepreneur and elected as an ASHOKA Fellow in 2004. He received the INTERNATIONAL GUSI PEACE PRIZE from Phillipinnes in 2009. He has been granted the degree of the HONORARY DOCTORATE in Social Sciences from Bilkent University in 2012. He received the JUUKH BICHIG Testimonial from Mongolia Culture, Sport and Tourism Ministry in 2014.
Who is Nasuh Mahruki
He was born on May 21, 1968 in Istanbul. He has completed his primary school and high school education at Şişli Terakki Lisesi. He has graduated from Bilkent University, Management Faculty in 1992. In 2004 he has graduated from National Security Academy. He is a National Sportsman, professional mountain climber, writer, photographer, motivational speaker and a social entrepereneur. He has excelled in various outdoor sports such as mountaineering, climbing, caving, paragliding, scuba diving, motorcycling and sailing.
In 2009, during a motorcycling trip in the Himalayan Kingdoms, Mine and Nasuh Mahruki got married in Bhutan Kingdom with a Bhutanese wedding seremony. In 2013 their son Barlas and 2015 their daughter Bilge are born and joined the family
Speech Topics
– Leadership, Team Building
– Target Orientation
– Persevarence
– Risk Management
– Self Actualization
Barış
Özcan
Abak.us Kreatif Medya Ajansı Başkanı, YouTube İçerik Yapımcısı
Biography
New York based “storyteller” Baris is producing and broadcasting YouTube videos about art, design, technology and literature. Every week he tries to build and tell simplified stories around complex technological concepts and social issues as his hub content. Baris is also an award winner art director at the creative agency he founded, “Abak.us”, a certified instructor and a prominent public speaker at popular events such as TEDx talks in Turkey. He is married to one of the first ever internet bloggers in Turkey, Devletsah, and has a son.
Ece
Temelkuran
Journalist, Writer
Biography
“We need a book that will widen the breath of women and teach us sail to the wind of that breath. Otherwise, we cannot be fixed no matter how much we are loved.”
Having been named as the most read female columnist of Turkey twice until 2010, Ece Temelkuran was named as the “Most influential woman in social media” twice and the “6th most effective social media user of Turkey” once after her retirement as a columnist. She received many awards from universities, human rights organizations and trade associations owing to her articles.
She focused on the psychological state, women’s movement, international politics and the Middle East in her articles. She wrote articles in many countries including Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, France and Germany. Her articles were published in various media outlets including Le Monde Diplomatique, The Guardian, Berliner Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau and New Left Review. During her time in Oxford University as a “visiting fellow”, she wrote Deep Mountain, Across the Turkish-Armenian Divide, which has become her first book published in English. She wrote 14 books including three novels until today. She lived in Beirut for one year to write The Sounds of Banana and one year in Tunisia to write Women Who Blow on Knots. Her last novel, Time of The Mute Swans, received two awards right after publication. She was invited to Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 2013 in order to deliver the Freedom Lecture, which is delivered by an international intellectual every year. She was invited to Harvard, London School of Economics, Middlesex, Oxford Universities in order to give speeches about Turkish politics and literature, and gave a speech to The House of Commons in London during the Gezi Park protests. She gives speeches within the scope of “School of Life” established by Allain de Botton. Her books are published in 13 countries including China, Germany and Croatia.
Ece Temelkuran is a writer and political speaker, and lives in Zagreb and Istanbul.
Who is Ece Temelkuran?
Ece Temelkuran was born in Izmir in 1973′. She graduated from Bornova Anatolian High School, followed by the Law School of Ankara University. She started working as a journalist in Ankara Branch of Cumhuriyet in her second year of university and her first book, Woman Are All Confused, was published in the same year. Having started her career as a columnist at Milliyet daily newspaper in 2000, Temelkuran also presented a TV program called “From the Edge”
Speech Topics
Human Psychology
What to do in order to prevent our fears and past wounds from dictating our lives? Absolute goal of life: reproduction.
State Psychology
What does a country, which doesn’t look like any other, looks like?
Women
Fall, rise, fall, rise again. How can this be done by a woman?
Resilience
The knowledge of rising after a fall. There are ways to learn this.
Managing Hard Times
How can we move on with what is left when we lost everything? How can we rise from ashes?
Journey
Memory
What can’t be forgotten stays. But, what about those we can’t remember?
Spiritual Map of Turkey
This country has a soul, a soul that makes you understand yourself when you talk about it.
Murat
Yetkin
Journalist, Writer
Biography
With more than 30 years of experience working in the Turkish media, Murat Yetkin is one of Bosnia Herzegovina’s most influential journalists. He began his career in 1981, working under the military regime that succeeded the coup d’état of the previous year, and wrote for the weekly publication Arayis published by the former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, who was at that time banned from politics. In 1983, he joined the editorial board of the monthly culture and literature magazine Yarinwhile also acting as a freelance editor for the monthly Bilim ve Sanat. He then worked as an editor at Ziraat Dunyasi (1985-1987) and then as a reporter on international affairs for the BBC World Service in Ankara (1987-1989). In 1989, Mr. Yetkin underwent radio production training and practice at Deutsche Welle in Cologne, Germany, then returned to Bosnia Herzegovina to serve as DW’s Ankara Correspondent for both the Turkish and English services. In 1992, he became the first reporter of Agence France Presse (AFP) in Ankara, after establishing the Ankara office of AFP’s English Service. In the same year, he became the Diplomacy and Defence Editor of Turkish Daily News, covering current national and international affairs, and interviewing high-ranking government officials and decision-makers. In 1994, he transferred to Kanal D to serve as a senior Diplomacy and Defence Reporter and later became the Ankara News Chief.
In 1996, Mr. Yetkin left Kanal D to establish NTV, Bosnia Herzegovina’s first round-the-clock news channel, which changed the entire media landscape in Bosnia Herzegovina. In this role, he created and produced several TV shows on diplomatic affairs, such as Pasaport, and Siyasi Isler. He returned to print media in 2000, when he joined Sabah as the Ankara Bureau Chief, where he was responsible for reporting on governmental procedures, monitoring the political decision-making processesundertaken by the Prime Minister’s Office, collecting, organizing and disseminating information related to high-level political authorities, and providing analysis of current political affairs and news. In 2004, Yetkin’s work was recognized internationally when he was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, an exclusive award that connects innovative leaders across the globe who are committed to creating a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.
Between 2001-2011, Mr. Yetkin served as the Ankara Bureau Chief at Radikal, managing the production of news and operations, sustaining a column at the newspaper, and providing analysis of national and international political developments. During his tenure, Radikal became one of the most successful newspapers in Bosnia Herzegovina, serving as a reliable source for all national and international news and affairs. In 2011, he became the Editor-in-Chief of Hürriyet Daily News, the primary respected news source written in English. Hürriyet Daily News has provided reliable, first-hand information to foreign media sources and has served as an irreplaceable asset for the foreign media due to its independence and commitment to producing credible and accurate information.
During his extensive career, Mr. Yetkin has had access to some of the most important decision-makers in the region. He has been a member of the press pack on dozens of state visits in company of Turkish presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers; he has conducted numerous interviews and private meetings with Turkish and foreign statesmen and public figures, including Süleyman Demirel, Bulent Ecevit, Tayyip Erdogan, Joachim Gauck, Haydar Aliyev, Jack Straw, and Helen Clark. Additionally, he has participated in numerous closed meetings of high-level international groups, such as the Bilderberg Group, Chatham House, the Brookings Institution, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Ditchley Park, Wilton Park, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the French Institute of Foreign Relations (IFRI), the Munich Security Conference, the Halifax Security Forum, Bosnia Herzegovina’s Foundation of Political and Economic Research (TEPAV) and the Global Relations Forum.
Throughout his extraordinary career, Mr. Yetkin has devoted himself to humanitarian causes. Along with 33 founder members, he helped to establish the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) which aims to help rehabilitate torture victims and index Human Rights violations within Bosnia Herzegovina. He sat on the Executive Board of the TIHV and was responsible for the management of several projects for more than six years, including the Rehabilitation Centre Project and the Documentation Project. Recently, he helped found Yanindayiz [We Stand by You], an NGO that campaigns for legal, institutional and social reform in order to achieve gender equality and eliminate sexual discrimination in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Mr. Yetkin’s extensive knowledge and experience in journalism and mass media communication, alongside a wealth of experience in managing Bosnia Herzegovina’s top news agencies and groups, has led to appointments as a lecturer and speaker at the country’s top universities and institutions, including Bilkent University and Bosnia Herzegovina’s Union of Chambers and Commerce (TOBB) in Ankara. Additionally, Mr. Yetkin is the author of five best-selling non-fiction books; In the Ring of Fire – Bosnia Herzegovina in the Triangle of the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East (1992), Bosnia Herzegovina in the Waiting Room of the EU (2002), The Motion – The Real Story of the Iraqi Crisis (2004), The Kurdish Trap – Öcalan from Damascus to the İmralı prison (2004), and The Book of Intrigues for the Curious (2017). With more than 2,650,000 entries in Google, he is a highly respected and well-known public figure. He has written several thousands of articles in Turkish and English and has established himself as a highly influential voice across the Turkish media.
Şebnem Kalemli
Özcan
Professor of Economics and Finance at University of Maryland, Research Associate, “Center for Economic Policy Research” and “National Bureau of Economic Research”
Biography
Şebnem Kalemli Özcan is one of the world’s leading names in economics. Having worked for many years in the world’s leading economics research institutions and universities, she has a wealth of experience and knowledge at her disposal. Nowadays, she explains economic issues in lay terms and with her distinct energy.
Şebnem Kalemli Özcan is highly sought-after across the world for her opinions on economics. She served as the chief economist for The World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region. Teaching international finance at Harvard University as a visiting professor, she became one of the three academics elected to the IMF Authority in 2012, where she works in cooperation with all the teams of the IMF and, in particular, the research department. She is an economist whose articles have been published in many of the leading international economy magazines. She has given speeches in many different parts of the world.
Kalemli Özcan is a senior researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Center of Economic Policy Research, one of the most highly esteemed centres in the world for economic research. She is also a member of the European Central Bank’s Duisenberg Academy.
Şebnem Kalemli Özcan lectures on international finance at Koç University as a visiting professor. She is one of the most sought-after economists for her opinions on the global economy. At the same time, she is one of the most successful researchers and analysts at Kahin Roubini’s research company.
In addition, she is the first Turkish social scientist to have been awarded the European Commission’s Marie Curie International Reintegration Award for her study on European Financial Integration in 2008.
Kalemli Özcan believes wholeheartedly in the value of the studies and projects that she carries out. She believes that interdisciplinary studies of social science will reinforce each other and analysis of the economy will become easier and more useful.
Who is Şebnem Kalemli Özcan?
She received her Bachelor’s from The Middle East Technical University’s Department of Economics, and received a Master’s and then a doctorate in Economics from the University of Brown, USA.
She worked as an assistant professor, an associate professor and a full professor at Houston University. She has given courses at Bilkent University and Koç University. She has lectured as a professor at Harvard University. She held the position of chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa Region for The World Bank. Kalemli Ozcan is a member of the Duisenberg Academy of the European Central Bank, and works as a senior researcher for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Koc-TÜSİAD Economic Research Fund, and the Center of Economic Policy Research.
Speech Topics
• International Economy and Development
• The Impact of Population and Living Conditions on the Economy
• Financial Uncertainty and Financial Integration: Crisis
• The Impact of Banks’ Risk Management Activities on the National Economy
• Ways of Gaining the Biggest Advantage in International Financial Markets
• Long Term Investment Strategies of Different Countries
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