Istanbul Bilgi University Academic, Social Entrepreneur, Marathon Runner 

Itır Erhart started charity-runs when she saw a slogan on a Chicago bus stop in 2004: “Difficult to run? Try chemotherapy!” She ran eight marathons and 20 half-marathons to raise funds and create awareness on behalf of NGOs. She is among the founders of Step by Step, Turkey’s first charity-run initiative. Erhart gives stimulating speeches on the effects of creating corporate teams and running for NGOs on corporate communications, sense of belonging and motivation and shares the ways to organize such events and their media echoes with her audience. Erhart focuses on the significance of acting as a team and speaks on ways to raise funds and create awareness through sports.

Step by Step reaches 12 thousand members!

Step by Step, with its 12 thousand members as of 2016, continues to mobilize individuals for social issues through endurance sports and encourages NGOs to be more transparent and accountable. Individual and corporate runners of Step by Step raise funds for their selected NGOs through sports. This model, globally known as “charity run”, is implemented in Turkey for the first time by Step by Step. Step by Step runners raised TL 11 million 700 thousand from 90,000 donators and touched the lives of 60 thousand people since 2007. Using the system, each runner sends messages to 200 people to explain his or her cause. This helps raising funds and create awareness.

Itır Erhart was listed for the “Making a Difference” program in 2009 for her works in civil society issues and granted with the Ten Outstanding Young Persons jury’s special award in 2010. In 2014, she was named as an Ashoka Fellow.

Erhart gives lectures on social gender, human rights, sports and media at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Faculty of Communication and runs workshops “How To Create Social Benefits” and “How To Improve Self-confidence” at The School of Life Istanbul.

Who is Itır Erhart?

Itır Erhart was born in 1975. She was graduated from Işık School. She majored in English Language & Literature and Philosophy at Boğaziçi University. She graduated from the same school with an M.A. degree in Philosophy and continued at Cambridge University’s Philosophy program. She was graduated with an M.Phil. degree and started teaching at Istanbul Bilgi University. In 2006, she was graduated from Boğaziçi University’s Philosophy Department with a Ph. D. degree. In 2015, she became an associate professor.