TEDxAlsancak Salon

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Basak Kaval

  Senior Urban Planner, Sailor, Entrepreneur

  Başak Kaval is a senior urban planner, entrepreneur, and sailor who brings together spatial thinking, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. She graduated from Dokuz Eylül University’s Department of City and Regional Planning, completed her master’s degree in the same field, and continues her doctoral studies. After beginning her career in the public sector and gaining project coordination experience in the private sector, she founded Kıyı Studio in 2006, where she has led planning, architecture, construction, and consultancy processes through a holistic approach for public institutions, private companies, and investors. She has also taken part in ventures such as Parlons Cafe & Patisserie and Fi Salda Hotel with her family. With academic publications on urbanisation and active roles in a range of civil society organisations, she continues to work at the intersection of city-making, entrepreneurship, and community life.

• Burcu Batur

  Agricultural Engineer, CEO

  Burcu Batur is an agricultural professional and entrepreneur working at the intersection of sustainable agriculture, production, and social impact. A graduate of Ege University in Agricultural Engineering, she has built a long-standing career in production, product development, and operations management. As one of the first women in Türkiye to produce compost commercially, she has pioneered innovative and sustainable practices in agriculture. She is also a founding partner of the Sustainable Agriculture Scientific R&D Cooperative, where she continues to work on science-based, collaborative approaches to agricultural transformation.

• Burcu Bostancioglu

  PhD. / Art Theraphist / Addiction Activist

  Dr Burcu Bostancıoğlu is an İzmir-born academic, art therapy specialist, and civil society leader working at the intersection of art, addiction recovery, and social impact. She completed her undergraduate and master’s studies in Fine Arts Education at Dokuz Eylül University and earned her PhD from Yıldız Technical University with a dissertation on “Art Therapy in the Fight Against Substance Addiction.” Since 2014, she has served as the founding president of Bir Hayata Dokun Association, leading national projects focused on addiction prevention, youth rehabilitation, art-based healing, and public awareness. Through projects such as Bir Umut Ol and Sıfır Kayıp, she has developed strong collaborations with public institutions, local governments, and civil society organisations. Drawing on her experience in local governance and policymaking, she approaches addiction as a shared social responsibility shaped by art, civil society, and collective action.

• Efe Elmas

  Writer / Semiotician

  Efe Elmas was born in İzmir in 1989. After completing secondary education at Bornova Anadolu Lisesi, he graduated from the Department of Food Engineering at Celal Bayar University. While pursuing a master’s degree in Food Virology at İzmir Institute of Technology, he chose to redirect his life and left the programme. He is currently undertaking a master’s degree in Women’s Studies and Gender at Dokuz Eylül University. He received training in Analytical Psychology at the Carl Gustav Jung-Institut Zürich, writes for various journals, and offers courses in mythology, fairy tales, dreams, the unconscious, and symbolism. His book Labirent was published by Doğan Novus, while his book on mythology and archetypes, Pan: And His Message , was published by Destek Yayınları. Efe Elmas is a symbol scholar, engineer, writer, and independent researcher.

• Emrah Demirel

  Musician

  Emrah Demirel is the vocalist and guitarist of the band Pitch Black Process, which has created a unique style by bringing together English and Turkish in their compositions and reinterpreting songs with a rare approach that has become their signature, “PBPlizing” them. Pitch Black Process has worked with world-renowned producer Daniel Bergstrand on their albums; they have drawn attention with their powerful performances through international tours and appearances at global festivals. The band has represented Turkey at significant international events such as the World Metal Congress, the first metal festival held in Tunisia, and a large-scale public festival in South Korea attended by over 10,000 people. Pitch Black Process continues to work on new projects.

• F.Kaan Bayhan

  Group Managing Director / Tourism Industry

  F. Kaan Bayhan’s story begins in hospitality, where he started as a bellboy and built a nearly 40-year career that led him to senior executive roles in international hotel chains. From hotel operations to investments, openings, and consultancy for global brands, particularly Wyndham Hotels, his career reflects decades of leadership shaped on the ground, in motion, and under pressure. Today, he brings that experience into a different kind of leadership work: helping people transform the way they think, lead, and grow. With a background that includes psychology studies, executive coaching, and corporate development, he now works as an ICF-certified executive and team coach, trainer, and speaker. His message is both practical and deeply human: success is not a target somewhere in the distance. It is the outcome of the habits we build, the mindset we sustain, and the choices we repeat every day.

• Gulcin Kara Yaz

  Artist / Painter

  Gülçin Kara Yaz is an artist and painter whose practice explores the relationship between body and space through the axes of permeability, fragility, and presence-absence. Using materials such as stretch film, packing tape, wire mesh, and papier-mâché, she constructs transparent and genderless body forms, rethinking the body as both a visible and inaccessible surface. Through layered surfaces created with acrylic, oil paint, ink, and watercolour, she investigates traces, memory, and states of erasure. In her work, the body appears not as a fixed form, but as a presence that dissolves into space, leaves behind a trace, and continuously transforms, inviting the viewer into a field of ambiguity, silence, and embodied pause.

• Kevser Çimenli

  Academician

  Kevser Çimenli is a civil society leader, educator, and social impact expert. Born in 1975 in Kozan, Adana, she has spent most of her career working in the non-profit sector, including roles at TEGV, TEMA, and GENÇTUR. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Board of GHD and provides training and consultancy to civil society organisations in institutional development, volunteer management, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship. She is also a lecturer at Yaşar University, where she teaches Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship and directs the Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Office. Çimenli is the founder of the “There is Goodness in İzmir” movement and the “Goodness Platform During Corona Days.” In 2023, “There is Goodness in İzmir” was recognised by Dünya Newspaper as Social Responsibility Project of the Year.

• Laçin Uzunçelebi

  Life Cycle Consultant

  Laçin Uzunçelebi, Muğla Anadolu Lisesi ve Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Çevre Mühendisliği mezunudur. Mezuniyetinin ardından 7 yıl boyunca kurumsal hayatta mühendislik ve İş Sağlığı Güvenliği uzmanlığı yapmıştır. 2018’de astroloji eğitimlerine başlamış, 2019’da kurumsal kariyerini bırakarak kendi yolculuğuna yönelmiştir. 2020’de kurduğu Laçin Uzunçelebi Eğitim Danışmanlık ile danışmanlık ve eğitim çalışmalarını dijital platformlara taşımıştır. Klasik ve modern astrolojiye ek olarak Uranian, finansal ve kurumsal astroloji alanlarında uzmanlaşan Uzunçelebi; GOE Enstitüsü, Model EFT, Neuroshine Teknoloji, ICF onaylı koçluk, kuantum tezahür koçluğu, ThetaHealing ve mindfulness gibi farklı disiplinlerde de eğitim almıştır. Bugün yaşam döngüleri rehberliği odağında, bireylerin ilişki, kariyer ve içsel dönüşüm süreçlerine eşlik etmektedir.

• Mete Darcan

  Communication Manager, collector of antiques

  After studying Radio, Television and Cinema at Istanbul University, Mete Darcan went on to complete an MBA in Arts Management at Yeditepe University. He began his career in film and music production, working on numerous music videos, television programmes, and documentaries. He later worked in content editing during the early years of digital publishing in Türkiye. For ten years, he held an executive role at Dialog Anlatım İletişim, where he contributed to the professional development of hundreds of presenters, hosts, and actors. Since 2013, he has co-led Diem Akademi, designing training programmes for institutions. Through his brand Yegane Smyrne, he also brings bespoke jewellery, accessories, and art objects to collectors, while continuing to write and direct.

• Vildan Şentürk

  Brand Consultant / Marka Danışmanı

  Just Human / Sade İnsan

• Yıldız Gürgün

  Tourism professional, entrepreneur, lecturer

  Yıldız Gürgün is a tourism professional, entrepreneur, and educator with decades of experience in the field. She studied German Language and Literature, became a professional German-speaking tour guide, and later completed a Master’s degree in Tourism Management. Over the years, she founded Dalya Tourism Travel Agency and went on to establish and operate White Dahlia Hotel and Dahlia Boppard Pension. Since 1996, she has also been teaching congress tourism at Ege University, continuing to contribute to the tourism sector through both practice and education.