Before 8 March Call for Equality from Women to the Business World: We are ready to be compared to all men on your Boards. As long as you consider us equally.
Women on Board Turkey Association (WOB Turkey) preparing women members for the Boards of companies, associations and non-governmental organizations call for equality to the business world before 8 March World's Women Day. WOB Turkey Board Members came together with their third term Mentees. "When we asked why there are no women on Boards, we get the answer: we look for a lot of female members ready for Boards, but could not find them. We are here, we have been 137 people and we are here. We are ready to be compared with the resumes, jobs, achievements, certificates, programs, schools of men, in short with all their competencies."
Members of the WOB Turkey, working to eliminate gender inequality and ensure that more women take part on boards, came together with representatives of the business world within the scope of third term certificate and mentoring program. Representatives of the business world and women candidates exchanged views on the more women on Boards issue.
"137 women are ready to be a Board Member at the end of the third term in WOB Turkey"
WOB Turkey Vice President Arzu Aslan Kesimer stated that she was the 1st term Mentee of WOB Turkey. "We prepared 137 women candidates in the terms of WOB Turkey Program with your support. 137 women are currently ready and candidates to be a Board Member. There are 403 open corporations in the Istanbul Borsa. 159 of them do not have any female Board Member. In other words, men come together, make decisions and manage on Boards of 159 companies. But women who make up 50% of society are not there." Kesimer, who continued her speech by addressing the mentors: "You ask us 'how can we support us?' as mentors… your biggest support will be express the importance of WOB Turkey at every opportunity to increase the number of women on Boards. Because when we ask why there are no women on Boards, we get the answer: "We look for a lot of female members ready for Boards, but could not find them.' We are here, we have been 137 people and we are here. We are ready to compare to all Boards Members who have said this. We are ready to be compared with the resumes, jobs, achievements, certificates, programs, schools of men, in short with all their competencies. If it really is, we accept it. I would like to repeat that we are here and we are ready."
"The issue of Women on Board in Turkey is a demand issue"
WOB Turkey Mentor Committee Co-President Murat Yeşildere said:" The features of women leaders are ready to compete with men. Women do not fall behind in any competencies with male Board Members. Therefore, I can say that the issue of Women on Board in Turkey is not a supply, it is a demand issue. Women are ready to take part and have a strong desire in this regard."
WOB Turkey Third Term Mentors: Aclan Acar, Ali Ülker, Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, Bülend Özaydınlı, Canan Ercan Çelik, Cansen Başaran Symes, Erdal Aksoy, Evguenia Stoichkova, Feyhan Yaşar, Füsun Akkal Bozok, İzzet Garih, Lale Saral Davelioğlu, Mahmut Ünlü, Mehmet Ali Berkman, Mehmet Sönmez, Muzaffer Akpınar, Ömer Aras, Reha Yolalan, Selen Kocabaş, Sevdil Yıldırım, Tayfun Bayazıt, Dr. Yılmaz Argüden came together with WOB Turkey Board Members: Arzu Aslan Kesimer, Murat Yeşildere, Banu İşçi Sezen, Ebru Dorman, Burçak Güven, Özlem Cinemre, Elif Çelik, Yiğit Oğuz Duman, Özge Bulut Maraşlı, Nesrin Tuncer, Feza Tan, Ela Kulunyar, Demet Özdemir, Selen Okay Akçalı and discussed what needs to be done for gender equality in the busness World.
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Chairperson, Allianz Turkey Cansen Basaran Symes:
I would like to say one thing. Let's do what we talked about. Because we never hear anything at these tables, we will solve this problem if everyone does what they speak.
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Vice-Chairperson, Yıldız Holding Ali Ülker:
Especially the increase in the number of women in management levels has benefited from the diversity in management and the enrichment of the perspective in recent years. However, we need to represent women on boards, which is the highest level body of companies and to represent the unifying and reconciling characteristics of women in a homogeneous society as well as a different perspective.
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Chairperson, ARGE Consulting Dr Yılmaz Argüden:
The most important tas of Boards is to evaluate the issues from very different perspectives. Therefore, diversity actually adds wealth to Boards. The presence of women on Boards is an important factor in ensuring this diversity. The rate of women on Board is around 15% today in our country and was around 11% when WOB Turkey started its activities. Therefore, the pace is too slow. In England, where we started at roughly the same level, this rate increased up to 30% in the same period. So I think we need speed.
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Board Advisor, Doğan Group Özge Bulut Maraşlı:
Hundreds of studies are carried out every day to improve the social place of women in the world and our country. This work is on education at different levels, on employment. However, our work with WOB Turkey focused on the inclusion of women in the decision-making centre. Let us hope that we can also share notable developments in Turkey in the coming Term. 50% of the World's population is women. Women direct many choices about life within families. Therefore, we believe that women should be involved in decision-making mechanisms in order to make them strong in every field, to prepare them for the future.
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Founder, Bayazıt Management Consultancy, Tayfun Bayazıt:
Just as we see the positive contributions of more women in employment, it is very important to have more women on Boards in terms of increasing the quality of the Boards. I see that the WOB Turkey has a very serious contribution in terms of taking more roles on Boards of women who are successful in the management level and have proven themselves.
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Acting Chairperson, MV Holding Muzaffer Akpınar:
I have worked with women in my 35 years of business life. We have achieved great success together in every business environment where I worked with women. They gave great value. They revealed great predictions, insights, great thoughts and actions. We have always worked together with pride, with pleasure. I never knew their identities, in fact, I never had such awareness. I dream of a world without this awareness.
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About Women on Board Turkey Association:
WOB Turkey has started its activities in 2012 and it changed its status in January 2017. 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 one term so far, has included 88 women leaders, 40 in the first term, 48 in the second term, and 86 mentors, some of whom gave voluntary support. 47 out of a total of 90 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.
