MANAGEMENT

Eczacıbaşı Holding Chairperson Bülent Eczacıbaşı began his professional career in 1974, and held various positions in Eczacıbaşı Group companies. He also served in the management of a number of prominent business associations, including TÜSİAD, the Turkish Industry and Business Association, where he was Chairman of the Board (1991- 1993) and Chairman of the High Advisory Council (1997-2001); and the Turkish Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers’ Association (İEİS), where he was Chairman of the Board (2000-2008). He serves as chairperson of several Eczacıbaşı Group companies. Bülent Eczacıbaşı continues to serve both TÜSİAD and İEİS as Honorary Chairman. He is also an Honorary Member of both the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED), and a member of the High Advisory Council of the Aegean Industry and Business Association (ESİAD).

Bülent Eczacıbaşı is also on the boards of various civic organizations. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Istanbul Modern Art Foundation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), and a member of the High Advisory Board of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), which he previously served as the Founding Chairman (1993-1997).

Bülent Eczacıbaşı graduated from the Department of Chemistry of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, and obtained his master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Recipient of Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur and Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia, Bülent Eczacıbaşı has authored two books about his experiences in business: “İşim Gücüm Budur Benim” (2018) and “Aklımızda Bulunsun” (2022). The first, published in English in 2020 with the title “A Rip in the Sea: New Responsibilities for Business,” explores the new roles and responsibilities of business leaders. The second, published in English in 2023 as “Just to Keep in Mind,” comprises 40 short essays about his findings from a half-century of working and reading and thinking about business issues. Bülent Eczacıbaşı is also an avid photographer. In 2020, a selection of his photographs about the people and stories he encountered during his travels was published under the title “From the Road.” In 2022, his photographs documenting the construction of Istanbul Modern’s new museum building were exhibited in a show called “Reflections of a Transformation: Toward a New Istanbul Modern” and published as a book under the same title in 2023.

Faruk Eczacıbaşı began working in the Eczacıbaşı Group in 1980 after completing his graduate work at Berlin Technical University, and for many years managed the Group’s e-transformation process.

Faruk Eczacıbaşı is President of the Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV) which he co-founded in 1995. In this role, he contributes to the preparation of numerous studies on related issues as well as the shaping of public policy.

In 1996, Faruk Eczacıbaşı assumed his current position as Vice-Chairperson of the Eczacıbaşı Group. He serves as Chairperson or vice-chairperson of several Eczacıbaşı Group companies. In 1999, he also became President of the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club.

Faruk Eczacıbaşı has written a book on the transformational changes taking place in Turkey and around the world as a result of new digital technologies. Published in Turkish in 2018, the book considers the challenges for individuals, institutions and societies, and discusses ways to prepare for the positive and negative aspects of the digital future.

Received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. Completed his graduate studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia, U.S.A. Obtained MSc. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering.

Various managerial positions within the Eczacıbaşı Group; Intema Project Manager, Artema Sanitary Fittings Production Manager, General Manager of Ekom Foreign Trade, General Manager of Ipek Kagit Tissue Paper Co, Eczacıbaşı Group Vice President in charge of Consumer Products Group, Vice President in charge of both Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Products Groups, and, between 2003-2017, President and CEO of the Eczacıbaşı Group. Currently, he is Member of the Board of Directors of Eczacıbaşı Holding.

Memberships in various associations: Vice Chairman of the Global Compact Turkey, Member and Ex-Board Member of TUSIAD, The Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association, Founding Member and Ex-President of the Turkish Advertisers’ Association, Member of the Board of Trustees of Istanbul Erkek Highschool Education Foundation, Ex-Member of the Board of Trustees of FMV Isik University, Member of KAGIDER, the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey and Founding Member of KALDER, the Quality Association. Other memberships include various foundations, community organizations and sports clubs.

Atalay Gümrah graduated from Galatasaray Lycée and Boğaziçi University’s Industrial Engineering Department. He received a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the same university.

Gümrah initiated his career in 1992 at Ekom Eczacıbaşı Foreign Trade as Regional Manager. In 1994, he was appointed Commercial Manager of VitrA UK, and in 1997, General Manager of the Group’s newly established marketing and sales company in Russia, EBM Jsc., where he was given the responsibility of developing its business. In 1999, Gümrah joined Intema Building Materials Marketing and Sales, where he served respectively as Projects and Operation Manager, Sales Operation Manager, Assistant General Manager, and General Manager, a position he held between 2006 and 2011. In January 2011, he was appointed Vice President of the Eczacıbaşı Building Products Division (Bathrooms) and General Manager of Eczacıbaşı Building Products, and in October 2013, he was given the additional role of Executive Vice President of the Eczacıbaşı Building Products Division. A member of the Board of several Building Products Division companies, Gümrah was appointed CEO of the Eczacıbaşı Group effective as of 1 February 2017.

In addition to serving on the boards of several Eczacıbaşı Group companies, Gümrah is Chairperson of the Clay, Ceramic, Cement and Glass Industry Employers’ Association of Türkiye and, since January 2022, Chairperson representing Türkiye on the Türkiye-Germany Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK).

Born in 1984, Nejat Emre Eczacıbaşı received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University’s Department of Economics in 2006 and MBA from Columbia Business School in 2011.

Before joining the Eczacıbaşı Group’s Strategic Planning and Finance Division in 2008, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers Turkey as a financial consultant. Between 2011 and 2013, he undertook several microfinance and social entrepreneurship projects through a company he established to help reduce unemployment in Turkey and other developing countries by reviving traditional crafts.

In 2013, he returned to Turkey and the Eczacıbaşı Group as a member of the Building Products Division’s Strategic Marketing team. In 2015, he was appointed General Manager responsible for all operations related to the Division’s kitchen business. During this period, he established İntema Yaşam to transform the kitchen into a living center responding to a new generation of needs.

Emre Eczacıbaşı was appointed to his current position as Member of the Board of Eczacıbaşı Holding and Coordinator of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Eczacıbaşı Group in 2019. He also serves on the boards of several Eczacıbaşı Group companies, the Business4Goals Platform and the Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation.

Esra Eczacıbaşı Coşkun received her undergraduate degree in Economics and Art History from Harvard University in 2011, and began her professional career at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A year later, she returned to Turkey to work at Istanbul Modern, where she spearheaded the establishment of “Genç Modern”, Turkey’s first museum membership program for adults in the 21 to 40 age group. In 2014, Coşkun joined the Eczacıbaşı Group as a Strategic Planning Specialist, later becoming Brand Manager in the Consumer Products Division. After receiving her MBA from INSEAD in 2015, she joined McKinsey&Company as a consultant in a variety of projects.

In 2017, Coşkun was appointed Business Development Manager in the Eczacıbaşı Group’s Strategic Planning Department, and in 2018 and 2019 respectively, to her current positions as co-General Manager of Burgbad AG and Eczacıbaşı Group Digital Transformation Coordinator.

Esra Eczacıbaşı Coşkun is a member of the Eczacıbaşı Group and the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art’s Board of Directors.

She is Member of the Robert College Trustee Board and also Board Member of the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAİK) as part of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK), and the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD).

Emre Derman began his career in 1989 at White & Case, a leading international law firm. After a brief stint at the EBRD, London between 1994 and 1995, he returned to the firm in 1996, and as Executive Partner of the Istanbul office, led numerous high-profile transactions. He left the firm in 2008 to pursue his passion for sailing and worked as a freelance consultant for three years. In 2011, he moved to head up JP Morgan in Turkey and Azerbaijan, serving as Managing Director and Senior Country Officer. Since 2014, he has been providing boutique consultancy services to a select number of clients.

Emre Derman has extensive experience in M&A, capital markets, finance and estate planning. He is currently on the boards of Turcas Petrol and Akbank and serves as an advisor to the board of Yorglass. He is also an avid sailor and competes in yacht races.

Tolga Tuğlular began his career in trading and sales in 1991 at Finansbank’s International Fixed Income Desk, moving from there to ABN Amro Bank and holding a number of sales and trading roles at Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan before joining JP Morgan Securities Ltd as Vice President of EMStar Group in 1996.

He held a number of senior trading and coverage positions at JP Morgan with a focus on emerging markets until 2019, when he left to head up the newly established Cirera Capital UK as CEO and managing partner.

The founder and current CEO of Weee Strategy & Coaching, Véronique Laury has held many senior executive roles in the French and British retail industry, most recently as Group CEO of Kingfisher until 2019.

Véronique Laury began her career at Leroy Merlin and spent 15 years in various sales and marketing roles. She joined Kingfisher PLC in 2003 where she held multiple positions in France and UK before directing business strategy for the joint entity which was Europe’s second largest DIY group. She was CEO of both France and of the overall Group for 5 years.

Véronique Laury holds numerous board positions in high profile companies in her sector, such as IKEA, Sodexo, Tarkett, WeWork and has previously served on the boards of Turkish Koçtaş and Hornbach Baumarkt.

Véronique Laury is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris.

Werner Geissler began his career at Procter & Gamble in 1979 and rose through the company ranks from brand management to general management, and from regional responsibilities to Vice Chairman of Global Operations from 2007 to 2015. His regional assignments included responsibility for the Turkey, Caucasian & Central Asian Republics cluster from 1998 to 2001, based in Istanbul where he also served on the board of YASED.

Since 2014, he has been an Operating Partner at Advent International, a leading Private Equity firm. Werner Geissler is currently serving on the boards of Philip Morris International and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He has previously served on the Boards of IMD, economiesuisse, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He is also an active investor in several start-ups.

Werner Geissler is an advisor and honorary ambassador to Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Geneva and has been a visiting Professor at the China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong Shanghai. Werner Geissler is a graduate of the University of Cologne.

ECZACIBAŞI Group Executive Management

Atalay Gümrah graduated from Galatasaray Lycée and Boğaziçi University’s Industrial Engineering Department. He received a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the same university.

Gümrah initiated his career in 1992 at Ekom Eczacıbaşı Foreign Trade as Regional Manager. In 1994, he was appointed Commercial Manager of VitrA UK, and in 1997, General Manager of the Group’s newly established marketing and sales company in Russia, EBM Jsc., where he was given the responsibility of developing its business. In 1999, Gümrah joined Intema Building Materials Marketing and Sales, where he served respectively as Projects and Operation Manager, Sales Operation Manager, Assistant General Manager, and General Manager, a position he held between 2006 and 2011. In January 2011, he was appointed Vice President of the Eczacıbaşı Building Products Division (Bathrooms) and General Manager of Eczacıbaşı Building Products, and in October 2013, he was given the additional role of Executive Vice President of the Eczacıbaşı Building Products Division. A member of the Board of several Building Products Division companies, Gümrah was appointed CEO of the Eczacıbaşı Group effective as of 1 February 2017.

In addition to serving on the boards of several Eczacıbaşı Group companies, Gümrah is Chairperson of the Clay, Ceramic, Cement and Glass Industry Employers’ Association of Türkiye and, since January 2022, Chairperson representing Türkiye on the Türkiye-Germany Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK).

Özgen Özkan started his professional career at Eczacıbaşı VitrA in 1989, where he took on important responsibilities in every function from production planning to services, exports, sales, marketing, and logistics. In 1998, Özkan joined the Franke Family as General Manager in Turkey, then served respectively as Franke Regional Manager for Turkey, Greece, Romania, the Caucasus and Kazakhstan; Franke Regional Manager for Southeast Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Caucasus; and finally Franke Head of Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. On July 2020, Özgen Özkan returned to the Eczacıbaşı Group as CEO of Eczacıbaşı Building Products. In this position, Özkan will also be in charge of all international Eczacıbaşı Building Products subsidiaries.

Born in 1964, Özgen Özkan received his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in 1986 and his MBA from İstanbul University in 1988. Özkan is fluent in English and is a founding member of the Association of Board Directors.

Born in 1972, Hasan Pehlivan received an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bilkent University in 1994 and an MBA from Boğaziçi University in 2004.

Pehlivan began his professional career in 1994 in the oil and natural gas sector with Schlumberger Oilfield Services. He served as Field Engineer in China, Operational Manager in South Sumatra, Indonesia, and Technical Manager in Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. In 2000, Pehlivan was appointed Global Marketing Manager in the Production Services division of Schlumberger Wireline Headquarters in Paris. In 2002, he moved to the Smart Card division as Sales and Marketing Manager in charge of telecom, payment systems and government programs. In 2005, he became Schlumberger Country Director for Turkey. Upon merger of smart card business in 2006 to form Gemalto, Pehlivan became General Manager of Turkey and Director of Middle East Payment Systems.”

In 2011, Pehlivan took charge of an international advisory network in 15 countries as Senior Advisor of the Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency. Over the following four years, he contributed to research on energy, innovation, advanced technology and other fields. Pehlivan joined the Eczacıbaşı Group in January 2015 as Director of Business Development in the Eczacıbaşı Building Products Division. Pehlivan was assigned the additional position of VitrA Tiles General Manager In September 2016, and General Manager of Villeroy Boch Fliesen GmbH in July 2019, thus giving him full responsibility for all ceramic tiles operations.

Emin Fadıllıoğlu initiated his career in 1991 as Medical Doctor at Haydarpaşa Numune Hospital. In 1996, he joined Abbott Turkey as Marketing Trainee and progressed on different roles with increasing responsibilities. Between 2002 and 2005 he worked as Area Commercial Director - Abbott Diabetes Care for Asia Pacific & Japan based in Tokyo, and then between 2005 and 2008, as Division Vice President for Europe, Middle East, Africa & India based in Frankfurt, Germany. Between 2008 and 2012, Fadıllıoğlu worked as General Manager at Abbott Turkey. Then, he served as Vice President and General Manager at GSK Pharmaceuticals Turkey between 2012 and 2017.

Born in 1968, Emin Fadıllıoğlu received his graduate degree from Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty of İstanbul University in 1991 and his MBA degree from Marmara University in 1993.

Mr. Şahin, who gained many years of invaluable experience in mining, started his career in 1997 as Underground Shift Engineer at Eurogold and then worked in the production, planning and projects at Inmet Metal Mining, Newmont, Mount Isa Mines and Beaconsfield Gold in Turkey and Australia.

Returning back to Turkey in 2008, he worked as Project Manager in international consulting companies before working as Project Manager, Deputy General Manager and CEO at Demir Export in Koç Group between 2010 and 2017. Between 2017 and 2022, he served as the CEO of AMAK Mining in Saudi Arabia. Mr Şahin currently sits at the Board of Directors at ESAN and AMAK Mining.

Born in 1974, Savaş Şahin completed his B.Sc. degree in Mining Engineering at Middle East Technical University in 1997 and his master’s degree at the Department of Business Administration (Executive MBA) at Bilkent University in 2013.

Bülent Kozlu received his BA degree in Political Science from Harvard University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kozlu started his career in 2003 as an investment banking analyst at Lazard’s New York office. Between 2005 and 2015, he worked at The Carlyle Group’s North America buyout fund, Bain Capital’s European private equity fund and Turkven Private Equity, where he covered a wide range of sectors. Between 2015 and 2019, Kozlu was Managing Partner of Intus Capital, a real estate private equity firm he established with EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and Nef Real Estate, a leading Turkish real estate developer. He also acted as Chief Investment Officer at Nef during this time.

Bülent Kozlu served as Chief Investment Officer at Eczacıbaşı Holding from January 2020 until October 2022. He led the Group’s investment and M&A activity. He was also responsible for the Group’s real estate activities, Eczacıbaşı-Monrol, E-kart and Eczacıbaşı Insurance.

He has been working as the CEO of Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products since October 2022.

Özcan Konak received his undergraduate degree from the Economics Department of Ankara University’s Faculty of Political Science in 2002 and his MBA degree from the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business in 2014.

Konak initiated his career in 2002 as a full-time teaching and research assistant at Ankara University. In 2003, he joined the economic research department of Turkey’s Treasury, where he served as an economist, and in 2007, he moved to the audit department of Turkey’s Ministry of Finance as a tax auditor of large-scale taxpayers.

Konak joined Eczacıbaşı Holding in 2014 as Tax and Audit Manager, then served as Tax and Legislation Director between 2017 and 2019. In 2019 he was appointed to the Supervisory Board of the Eczacıbaşı Group in charge of Internal Audit and Tax and designated General Secretary of the Board of Directors. In April 2022, in addition to his role as General Secretary, Özcan Konak was appointed Chief Audit Executive of the Eczacıbaşı Group responsible for all international audit and tax management activities within Group companies.

Seyfettin Sarıçam graduated from Boğaziçi University's Industrial Engineering Department in 1995 and received his MBA degree from New York University Stern School of Business in 1999.

Sarıçam started his career in the audit department of PwC Istanbul Office between 1995 and 1997. After completing his MBA, he worked respectively for JPMorgan Chase in New York and London as Investment Banking Associate (1999-2001), the Istanbul-based corporate finance and advisory boutique Antika Partners as Vice President (2002-2006), and Merrill Lynch Turkish Investment Banking department as Vice President (2006-2008) and Director (2008-2010). Sarıçam joined Deutsche Bank’s Turkish Investment Banking department in 2010 and became Head of Turkish Corporate Advisory in 2014.

Sarıçam joined the Eczacıbaşı Group in July 2016 as Deputy Vice President of Strategic Planning and Finance and became Executive Vice President in October 2016. Seyfi Sarıçam continues to serve as Chief Financial Officer since January 2019.

İpek Güleç received her undergraduate degree in Quantitative Economics and International Relations from Tufts University in 2006.
Güleç started her career in 2006 as an Analyst at JPMorgan Chase Investment Banking Division in New York, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital restructuring in the Financial Institutions Group.
In 2007 she joined Actera Group, a leading private equity firm focusing on investments in Turkey. At Actera, she respectively assumed the roles of Analyst, Associate, Senior Associate, Vice President and Director between 2007 and 2022.
Since January 2023, Güleç serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Eczacıbaşı Holding.

Born in 1976, Özgür received her undergraduate degree from Industrial Engineering department of Istanbul Technical University in 1998, her graduate degree from Human Resources Management department of Istanbul University in 2003 and her PhD from Labor Economics and Industrial Relations department of the same university in 2010.

Özgür, initiated her career in 1999 as Total Quality Specialist at Aselsan. She joined Eczacıbaşı Group in 1999 as Junior Human Resources Specialist at Eczacıbaşı Holding. Between 2005 and 2013, she worked as Human Resources Manager at Eczacıbaşı Girişim. Between 2013 and 2019, she worked as Human Resources Director responsible for all Consumer Products Division companies. Between 2016 and 2018 she also served as Supply Chain Director at the same company. Between 2019 and 2020 she worked as Human Resources Director for Holding Company. As of 2021, Eylem Özgür was appointed as Eczacıbaşı Holding Chief Human Resources Officer.

Born in 1974, Hilmi Koçak completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University in 1996.

In 1995, he started his career as a software engineer at Escort Software. In 1997, he joined Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, where he served first as a Systems Analyst, then Project Manager through 1999. Following appointments as Director of Information Technologies at Bosch Thermotechnic between 2001 and 2003, and Project Manager at Pfizer America from 2003 to 2004, he moved to Johnson Diversey where he served first as Director of Information Technologies in charge of Türkiye, then Director of Information Technologies in charge of Southeastern Europe, Türkiye and Israel. In 2008, he joined Abdi İbrahim Pharmaceuticals as Director of Information Technologies, and in 2013, he became the CIO at CLK Enerji. In 2014, he joined the Eczacıbaşı Group as Director of Information Technologies at Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products, and in 2021 he moved to Esan, where he also served as Director of Information Technologies before his appointment as Eczacıbaşı Group CIO in September 2022.

Born in 1984, Nejat Emre Eczacıbaşı received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University’s Department of Economics in 2006 and MBA from Columbia Business School in 2011.

Before joining the Eczacıbaşı Group’s Strategic Planning and Finance Division in 2008, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers Turkey as a financial consultant. Between 2011 and 2013, he undertook several microfinance and social entrepreneurship projects through a company he established to help reduce unemployment in Turkey and other developing countries by reviving traditional crafts.

In 2013, he returned to Turkey and the Eczacıbaşı Group as a member of the Building Products Division’s Strategic Marketing team. In 2015, he was appointed General Manager responsible for all operations related to the Division’s kitchen business. During this period, he established İntema Yaşam to transform the kitchen into a living center responding to a new generation of needs.

Emre Eczacıbaşı was appointed to his current position as Member of the Board of Eczacıbaşı Holding and Coordinator of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Eczacıbaşı Group in 2019. He also serves on the boards of several Eczacıbaşı Group companies, the Business4Goals Platform and the Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation.

Esra Eczacıbaşı Coşkun received her undergraduate degree in Economics and Art History from Harvard University in 2011, and began her professional career at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A year later, she returned to Turkey to work at Istanbul Modern, where she spearheaded the establishment of “Genç Modern”, Turkey’s first museum membership program for adults in the 21 to 40 age group. In 2014, Coşkun joined the Eczacıbaşı Group as a Strategic Planning Specialist, later becoming Brand Manager in the Consumer Products Division. After receiving her MBA from INSEAD in 2015, she joined McKinsey&Company as a consultant in a variety of projects.

In 2017, Coşkun was appointed Business Development Manager in the Eczacıbaşı Group’s Strategic Planning Department, and in 2018 and 2019 respectively, to her current positions as co-General Manager of Burgbad AG and Eczacıbaşı Group Digital Transformation Coordinator.

Esra Eczacıbaşı Coşkun is a member of the Eczacıbaşı Group and the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art’s Board of Directors.

She is also a representative of the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAİK) as part of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK), and holds membership of Endeavor Turkey and the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD).

Devrim Çubukçu joined the Eczacıbaşı Group in 2015. Before his current position as Sustainability, Corporate and Government Affairs Coordinator, he served first as Vice President of Corporate Communications, then Advisor to the CEO and Chairman on Corporate and Government Affairs. He is also a member of the boards of Esan, Eczacıbaşı Monrol Nuclear Medicine - Egypt, and the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation.

Besides his roles at the Eczacıbaşı Group, Çubukçu is the member of the World Economic Forum’s Eurasia Policies Board. In DEIK (the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey), he is Vice Chairman of the Germany Business Council and the board member of the UK Business Council. He also sits on the boards of TESEV, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation; Kurumsal İlişkiler Enstitüsü, Corporate Relations Institute and OSGD, Private Sector Volunteers Association.

Devrim Çubukçu has 28 years of experience in Turkey and abroad. He studied his undergraduate degree in the Political Science and International Relations Department of Boğaziçi University and master’s degree in the Economics Department of George Mason University, where he focused on electoral systems, public pressure groups and constitutional economics.

Akalın was born in Tarsus in 1972. She received her undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration at Middle East Technical University in 1994 and her master's in Women's Studies from the same faculty in 1997. While completing her graduate studies, she was Project Coordinator of the UNDP's "National Program to Strengthen the Participation of Women in Development".

Akalın joined the Eczacıbaşı Group in 1998 as a core member of the newly forming corporate communications team. She is now Director of Corporate Communications and General Secretary of the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting education and scientific research in Turkey, and to preserving and promoting Turkey's cultural and artistic production.

İlkay Akalın is a member of the Eczacıbaşı Group's Equal Opportunity Working Group, established in 2014 to raise awareness about issues related to gender equality and determine measures for facilitating the equal participation of women in business life.

She is also a soloist and vocalist of Ecza Dolabı, a musical group made up of Eczacıbaşı Group employees that performs charity concerts to raise money for foundations and social projects.

Akalın is married, has two children, and is fluent in English.

Cem Tanrıkılıcı was born in Istanbul in 1966. He completed his undergraduate degree in the School of Journalism (now Faculty of Communications) at Istanbul University and his master's in Business Management and Organization at Istanbul University's School of Management. Tanrıkılıcı began his career in journalism in 1984 as a copy reader at Dünya newspaper, then became page designer, Chief of National News, and Managing Editor of the same newspaper.

In 1993, Tanrıkılıcı joined the Günaydın publishing company as Economics Editor of Günaydın newspaper and Editor-in-Chief of the Ekonomik Bülten newspaper. In 1995, he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of Barometre newspaper and Economics Editor of the Kanal E television channel, where he was also responsible for producing and presenting a variety of programs.

Tanrıkılıcı joined the Eczacıbaşı Group in 2000 as Director of Press Relations.