DESIGN FOR PHILANTHROPY
I believe in the power design plays for positive social and environmental impact. For over 20 years of professional design career, I had the opportunity to work with amazing people who care about what they do. I bring my diverse knowledge of professional leadership and a network of collaborators to my philanthropic engagements. All of this is anchored to my unique and rich background of professional experience and my deep belief in our collective potential to create thriving futures for a more sustainable world. Below are a few initiatives that I led using the power of design for good.
STRATEGY FOR AN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
SUSTAINABILITY + SOCIAL IMPACT+ CULTURAL RESONANCE
I believe in the high value design thinking plays in early education and in building strong communities. In 2015 I founded the Bay Area Turkish Society, a nonprofit community organization in Berkeley, California, where I led the initiatives of educational, cultural, social and recreational programming through arts, dance, music, and food. Together with our volunteers,I initiated valuable partnerships and providing services to its extended community through design workshops, seminars, university engagement programs. One of these important programs is the partnership between my Industrial Design students with the Berkeley Turkish School community to design educational products that focus on teaching culture through creativity. To learn more about the Bay Area Turkish Society, please visit here.
connecting the design COMMUNITY
CULTIVATING THE CONVERSATIONS
As the chair of IDSA SanFrancisco Chapter, I have been leading the efforts in setting the stage for events where meaningful conversations spark positive impact on the design community. The mission of the IDSA is to serve the networking, career development and professional development needs of industrial designers in the Bay Area. The SF Chapter has had phenomenal years and have been recognized by national IDSA as an "exceptional" chapter for the number of events, quality of events and consistency. To learn more about IDSA, please visit here.
designing an urban community garden
PERMACULTURE + ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY
In 2003 I lead a week long workshop and co-created a community garden in my home town Izmir, in Turkey with Permaculture experts Evan and Morag Gamble from Chrystal Waters, Melbourne, Australia. This was the first organic community garden initiated in Izmir, in an effort to protect urban green spaces that are being lost due to over development. During this design workshop we co-designed the garden’s layout, built and established its governance rules with the garden volunteers. Over the course of 13 years the vacant lot transitioned into a thriving garden, with diverse plant species and a communal area where different segments of the society exchanged ideas, shared native seeds and practiced organic gardening. You can read more about this community garden’s story and its volunteers’ activism here.
Eco House
A DEMONSTRATION HOME AND GARDEN IN SUSTAINABLE LIVING
I had the opportunity to lead Eco House’s education and community initiatives and collaborate with its founder, Karl Linn in 2000. I organized energy efficiency and sustainable living classes and community garden workshops in Permaculture principles. EcoHouse is a demonstration home and garden located in North Berkeley where I lived and worked. I coordinated the classes, workshops, and tours of the house and garden to teach people from all walks of life how to make their living spaces healthier, more productive, energy and water efficient. You can learn more about this initiative and the Ecology Center here.