Women Crossing Borders was discussed at Brand Week Istanbul
WOB Turkey talked about "crossing borders" in Brand Week Istanbul that bringing together Turkey marketing and communication industry and most creative people in the world, ideas and works.
In the panel moderated by WOB Turkey Board Member Lale Saral Develioğlu, Şölen CEO Elif Çoban, Doctor of Medicine in Public Health, Entrepreneur and businesswoman Prof Dr Yasemin Açık and Turkcell Founder Partner and MV Holding Chairperson Murat Vargı shared with the participants how they crossed borders in their careers.
WOB Turkey talked about "Crossing Borders" at Brand Week Istanbul, which aims to inspire those who want to create change with their ideas and brands. In the panel moderated by WOB Turkey Board Member Lale Saral Develioğlu, Şölen CEO Elif Çoban, Doctor of Medicine in Public Health, Entrepreneur and businesswoman Prof Dr Yasemin Açık and Turkcell Founder Partner and MV Holding Chairperson Murat Vargı shared with the participants how they crossed borders in their careers.
WOB Turkey Board Member Lale Saral Deevelioğlu shared with the participants' data about the presence and effectiveness of women on Boards from past to present, and summarized the importance of women on Boards: "Women on the top will encourage and inspire others! Women who are active in decision-makers will be able to direct resources and policies correctly. Solving the source of social problems is the most effective, but it takes a long time. For this reason, we can accelerate this process by increasing the presence of women among decision-makers on the Boards."
Develioğlu pointed out that there were many periods in Anatolia when women were strong and powerful and said, "It was proved in the excavations carried out in Kültepe, which is the first city ruin built by the Hittites in Anatolia, 4 thousand years ago, women made a commercial agreement and pressed a stamp. In other words, women found a place in business and management 4 thousand years ago. The marriage and divorce contracts proving the equality of women and men are arranged based on mutual agreement. Married women made agreements on their behalf and stamped them. Many debts documents are stamped by husband and wife. We need to revive this spirit."
Elif Çoban: "My hope is in the next generation, a lot of work falls on women who will become mothers in the future."
Referring to the milestones in the success story Elif Çoban (Şölen Chocolate, CEO) explained her experiences that facilitate to hold on to business life and pave the way for women, as follows: "First of all, they must have a motivation for success. In my story, my motivation for success was "being a leader in business life and breaking prejudices against women." Second, they have to make their positioning. I have never positioned myself as a woman or a man. Your business results reviewed through with competence-responsibility glasses, not with men or women glasses. Your success is evaluated clearly and objectively. In this respect, I feel like a business person and I work with the responsibility that a business person should feel. They need to have very strong personalities and motivate many people. They need not give up, be bold, and always focus on making a difference. When they become a mother and start a family, they must be a role model and while raising their daughters, they have to act fairly, support them with "my daughter can do anything" logic. They should show this awareness to both their sons and husbands. But my hope is in the next generation, therefore a lot of work falls on women who will become a mother in the future.
Yasemin Açık: "No sector has a gender!"
Prof Dr Yasemin Açık pointed out that she is an only female entrepreneur in a male-dominated sector like cement and said, "I think no sector has a gender. There is only work, and anyone who wants to do it can do it. Of course, the workers who saw me working on the construction site were very surprised at first, but then they also realize that the construction site also has no gender. The only criterion for every sector is a success. Only success, without distinction between men and women. We have achieved this in Seza. As women, we may have stumbles, falls while working on the road to success. The important thing is to find the courage to stand up after a fall and stand up. As Mohammed Ali Clay said, it is not necessary to win all rounds to get the match. The important thing is the result."
Murat Vargı: "I owe my life to women."
MV Holding Founder Murat Vargı said, "I can say that I owe my life to women. Because I lost my father at a very early age, my mother and my aunt grew me. I grew up with love, affection and motivation of women that constantly support self-confidence. I owe the rising bar of success in my career to this support… I would like to call you all from here, a mother (if she wants) asks you to support the establishment of the legal basis for the use of 3 months of maternity leave by men (fathers). Thus, after the birth process, women and men share the responsibility equally.
About Women on Board Turkey Association:
WOB Turkey was founded by Hande Yaşargil and Burçak Güven in 2012 as the first organization that works to increase diversity and women's representation in executive boards in our country.
On January 16, 2017, we changed our status to an association and expanded our activities, and we started to take important steps towards institutionalization. The origin of our association is the Women on Board of Directors Program which Turkey's first and only certificate program in the field of Board Membership, accredited by respected academic institutions. The program provides women board member candidates opportunity to take mentoring from Turkey's business leaders. During every 18 months, our mentors play an important part by working with new female mentees and helping them prepare for their role on Boards of Directors.
Candidates also receive training on different subjects from experienced names from the business and academic world. The program, which has completed three terms so far, has included 137 women leaders, 40 in the first term, 47 in the second term, 50 in the third term, and 86 mentors, some of whom gave voluntary support all three terms. 75 out of a total of 137 women leaders are currently appointed as Board Members of one or more institutions or NGOs.
As the Women on Board Association Turkey, we continue to implement this unique program while carrying out our activities of communication, cooperation, awareness and information sharing in order to increase the representation rate of women on boards.
Program Objectives:
- The pool of senior executive women candidates in Turkey, having the required level of competence and experience to become Board Members, is enlarged,
- Female executives with high potential are brought together and connected with the decision-makers who elected/appointed members to the Boards,
- with the recommendations and guidance of the Mentors, the mentees are equipped with the right resources for being a Board Member,
- it is ensured that the Chairpersons of the Boards of our country's leading companies get to know female executives with various qualifications and recommend them for appropriate positions.
