2017 IBRAHIM BODUR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARDS

Focusing on early childhood education as the starting point of human development and the stage of fastest development, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University’s Multi-Purpose Early Childhood Education Centre (ÇABAÇAM) aims to deliver early childhood services to families and children whose development is at risk due in particular to socioeconomic reasons by building community based collaborations. Creating a model for coordination and cooperation between universities, local administrations and NGOs, ÇABAÇAM has been in operation since 2008 thanks to the support of the ÇABA Association and Kepez Municipality in Çanakkale. ÇABAÇAM also aims to offer opportunities to pre-service teacher candidates so that they can combine theory with practice and learn by trial and experience.

Evreka is an R&D company that develops smart city technologies. Evreka’s solution based on IoT and real-time optimisation algorithms gives an end to the inefficient and unsanitary waste collection systems, the backbone of cities, and creates cleaner, greener and smarter cities. Evreka’s solution also enables a reduction up to 55% on carbon emissions and operational costs.

Fazla Gıda was launched with a view to minimising carbon emissions and financial losses across the whole food supply chain in line with the food recovery hierarchy. Proving the possibility to solve the food waste problem in a sustainable and efficient manner through technology, Fazla Gıda’s web-based platform provides a regular and daily donation system free-of-charge between chain markets, food companies, and food banks and associations. At the same time, by systematising donations it not only reduces waste costs for food companies by 70% but also provides a sufficient food supply for persons in need.

While village schools tend to become a current issue due to the deprivation they suffer, the Village Schools Exchange Network (KODA) believes that they offer significant opportunities to deliver quality education. KODA set off with the aim of delivering integral and quality education in village schools that is fit for rural conditions. To this end, KODA capitalises on the opportunities in terms of the size of classrooms, peer-to-peer training, suitability of the school environment for education, and parent-teacher relationships. KODA’s vision is to create a world together through sustainable educational ecosystems where each individual can discover him or herself without disconnecting with nature. Bringing together teachers in village schools and education volunteers, KODA develops innovative educational practices for village schools and organises regular teacher get-togethers to support village school teachers.

Misface was launched to help students and entrepreneurs make better decisions in work life and progress. To date, Misface has provided free mentoring to more than 500 students with more than 120 mentors, receiving applications from 15 countries. Misface’s mentoring system gives students and entrepreneurs the opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with their mentors while also offering trainings on business opportunities and becoming mentors of the future. Building on its motto: “everyone in the world needs at least one mentor,” Misface enables students joining the community to do peer-to-peer mentoring and, after gaining experience, receive mentoring training to become mentors.

With a view to delivering intensive and quality education to autistic children, Otsimo is a mobile platform that uses tablet PCs to deliver the required and lacking education to autistic children through training games and feedback to their families. Otsimo has more than 13,000 registered children and offers more than 1,000 training materials, 50 plus games in five categories as well as over one hundred articles for families.

“Whoever Rules Technology Rules the World – Code Your Dreams with RobinCode” is RobinCode’s motto. RobinCode aims to create a generation that not only uses technology but also produces it. With this in mind, RobinCode aims to teach today’s children, tomorrow’s adults, algorithmic thinking through IT, raise a generation that creates solutions, not problems to ultimately find a solution to inequalities of educational opportunities. RobinCode develops training technologies building on technology support and integrated content from its global partners and uses coding, 3D, and robotics to teach children aged 5-16 the basics of computer sciences, cyber security, and technology entrepreneurship through its own training system.

SOGLab designs social business models, social investment programmes, curricula and visual communication contents to minimise the inequalities that disadvantaged communities face. SOGLab believes that design can be an effective way to radically solve the social issues faced every day, end extreme poverty, combat inequality and injustice, and correct climate change. Along these lines, SOGLab empowers “communities”, creates social designs in its “lab” independent of status, and uses design to leverage the power of social entrepreneurship throughout the “process” to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals “together”.

Tarlamvar.com aims to revive unused agricultural land, create rural employment and increase the income of small farmers to ensure that farmers get the value they deserve and consumers have access to healthy food. Tarlamvar.com enables users to own fruit trees and, by getting rid of intermediaries, consumers can directly buy the produce while farmers increase their income 2 to 2.5-fold. At the same time, tarlamvar.com offers reliable food services to its users by enabling them to monitor the trees that are either certified for good agricultural practices or organic agriculture.

Yuvarla is a social enterprise that was launched with the aim of enhancing the culture of individual giving and, while doing so, creating funds for NGOs working to solve social and environmental issues. Yuvarla aims to make NGOs more visible and enable people to have an easy donation experience. Yuvarla’s vision is to create a social order where independent and financially sustainable NGOs play a more active role. Yuvarla rounds up people’s credit and debit card spending to the nearest whole number and transfers the difference as a donation to NGOs.

Zeynep Bodur Okyay, earned her bachelor’s degree in management engineering from Istanbul University and master’s degree in management from Harvard University. In 1995, Okyay was appointed as Executive Board Member and Chairman of Kale Group’s marketing companies. Since 2007, she has been serving as Kale Group’s Chairman and CEO. Okyay’s other active roles include: President, General Assembly, Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO); Vice Chairman, Economic Development Foundation (IKV); Board Member, Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK); Coordinating Chair, Turkey-EU Business Councils, DEIK; Chair, Turkey-Italy Business Council, DEIK; Member, Turkish Business and Industry Association (TUSIAD). In 2015, Okyay chaired the C20 (Civil 20) Steering Committee during Turkey’s G20 Presidency.

Dorman earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Boğaziçi University, master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and MBA from Harvard Business School. She previously worked in McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Orange, France Telecom and Acıbadem Healthcare Group. Currently she is the CEO and Board Member of MV Holding and also serves as the Chairwoman of StartersHub and Board Member of KVK, Cardtek, and The LifeCo. Dorman is also a Board Member of the Mind Your Waste Foundation, Endeavor Turkey, and Women on Board Association.

Yıldırım obtained his degree in mechanical engineering from Boğaziçi University and master’s degree from the Center on Philantrophy at Indiana University. From 1991 to 1997, he worked as the Secretary General of the Boğaziçi University Alumni Association. In 1997, he was appointed as General Manager to the Vehbi Koç Foundation and continues to work in this role. Sitting on the boards of all Vehbi Koç Foundation affiliates, Yıldırım continues to serve on a volunteer basis on the board of trustees and/or board of members of TEGV, TEMA, Boğaziçi University Foundation, TÜSEV and Suna & Inan Kıraç Foundation.

Onur is one of the founders of Adım Adım, the first charity run in Turkey aiming to raise funds for civil society through sports. Since its launch, Onur has provided fund raising coaching to 40 NGOs and more than 45,000 volunteers through the charity run, while creating the first and only online fund raising platform that serves over one thousand NGOs for the charity run. Onur is an Ashoka Fellow and one of the founders of the Açık Açık Association that brings together donors as well as transparent and accountable associations in Turkey.

Özyeğin earned his degree in industrial management and economics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1998. He began his career at the investment bank Bear Stearns & Co. in New York as a Financial Analyst in the M&A Group. In 2003, after completing his MBA at Harvard University he returned to Turkey and assumed active roles in the management of family companies including: Executive Board Member, Fina and Fiba Holding; President, Strategic Planning and Business Development, Fiba Group; and, Chairman of various non-financial affiliates. Murat Özyeğin continues to serve as a member of the Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation, Global Relations Forum, Executive Board of TÜSIAD, Global Advisory Council of Harvard University, Board of Trustees of Özyeğin University and the World Wildlife Fund, and Chairman of the DEIK/Netherlands Business Council. Özyeğin is also the Honorary Consul-General of Singapore.

Tülin Akın, launched tarimsalpazarlama.com, Turkey’s first communication and e-learning network and e-commerce media in agriculture, in 2004 when she was a student. Akın created the Farmer’s Club (Çiftçi Kulübü) which provides information and services to 1.4 million farmers and their families and launched the early warning system in agriculture. She also carried out various social responsibility projects to raise water awareness and prevent tractor accidents in rural areas. Akın is an Ashoka Fellow and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2014 by the UN.

Dervişoğlu holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Istanbul University and master’s degree in international business from Ohio State University, USA. She started her career at Unilever and then, in 2002, she worked at Yahoo as the Marketing Director for Europe and the UK. In 2006, she joined Google and currently works as the Vice President of Marketing for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Dervişoğlu was listed in Fortune Turkey’s Top 10 Global Women Leaders.

Born in Istanbul, Adnan Dalgakıran graduated as a chemical engineer from Istanbul University’s Chemical Engineering Department after studying at Kabataş High School. Chairman of the Central Anatolian Machine Exporters Union, Adnan Dalgakıran also serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, Executive Board Member of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, and Member of the Scientific Board at TÜBİTAK.

Dilek Livaneli graduated from classroom teaching at Gazi University and has been working as a classroom teacher at Kumköy Primary School in Samsun since 2008 where she teaches four different grades in the same classroom. Located 15 kilometers away from Çarşamba, Livaneli has developed dozens of projects to better equip her students in life. Outside of teaching hours, Livaneli also engages in activities for students attending the village school as well as village locals. Introducing her students with ice skating, opera, cinema and theatre for the first time in their lives, Livaneli also offers vocational courses and literacy courses to village women who are unable to read or write. In 2012, Dilek Livaneli was chosen the ‘Change Maker Teacher of the Year’ by the Ministry of Education. In 2015, she was nominated for the 2015 Global Teacher Prize given out by the Varkey GEMS Foundation, whose honorary chairman is former US President Bill Clinton, and was the first-ever Turkish teacher to make it to the global Top 50 teachers list.