About - Bridge to Turkiye Fund

Did you know?

Un-schooled girls to boys ratio in Turkey is 2 to 1
100% of your donation supports our programs!
Since 2003, BTF has distributed over $300,000 in grants to programs in Turkey, made possible with Grassroots Investments from donors like YOU!

BTF has provided for:

Pics of Atatürk & Children

"Ve yeni nesil sizin eseriniz olacaktır..."

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Board of Directors

Ethical governance, transparency, and the constant building and safeguarding of public trust are vital principles guiding BTF's Board of Directors and the Executive Committeee.

Our Board Members (in alphabetical order) are as follows:

Bülent Ender, M.D. - Chair of the Board (Raleigh, North Carolina): Dr. Bülent Ender is a gastroenterologist at Wake Gastroenterology. He has been on the staff of Rex Hospital of Raleigh, North Carolina since 1993. Dr. Ender is a member of multiple medical societies including the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Physicians. Bülent is an active member of the Turkish-American community in the Triangle area and is a founding member and the Chairman of the Board of Bridge to Turkiye Fund. He also manages BTF’s Endowment Fund, established with Board of Directors’ charitable contributions. Bülent lives in west Raleigh with his wife and three sons.
Ertunga Özelkan, Ph.D. - Director (Charlotte, North Carolina): Ertunga Cem Özelkan, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management and the Associate Director of the Center for Lean Logistics and Engineered Systems (CLLES) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte). Prior to UNC Charlotte, he taught at the University of Texas at Dallas and worked for i2 Technologies and for Tefen Consulting. Dr. Özelkan holds a Ph.D. degree in Systems and Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona. Dr Özelkan was born in Ceyhan, Adana. He finished Tarsus American High School in 1987 and graduated from the Bogazici University's Civil Engineering Department in 1991. Before coming to US in 1993 for his graduate studies, he attended University of Karlsruhe, Germany between 1991 and 1993. Dr. Özelkan enjoys playing guitar, singing, reading and doing sports, learning languages and spending time with his family and friends. He is the founder of the Turkish Ryhthm Choir in Charlotte, NC and a teacher at the Charlotte Turkish School (CTS), where he has been also directing the CTS choir. While he is a little rusty, Dr. Özelkan still speaks some German and he is a beginner in Hungarian. He enjoys mentoring younger students and bringing Turks and Friends together.
F. Aybegüm Yavuz-Şenkesen, MBA - Director (Miami, Florida): F. Aybegüm Yavuz-Şenkesen, MBA is a Principal and co-founder of Market Analytics Group, a management and marketing consultancy in Miami, FL servicing primarily pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Aybegüm is from İstanbul. She first graduated from Üsküdar American Academy, then received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1997 from Boğazici University and later worked as a teaching assistant at İstanbul Bilgi University. Aybegüm earned her master of business administration (MBA) in Marketing and Management Science from the University of Miami.

Aybegüm has always been interested in helping underprivileged children in Türkiye; however, never had the opportunity to be actively involved in fundraising projects. Her involvement with BTF started in May of 2009 when she found BTF's website while looking for ways to give back for Turkish children online. After her first few contacts with BTF members, she was impressed by the level of commitment, integrity, accountability, and the quality of project execution of this 100% volunteer based organization, and joined the team as a Board member. Aybegüm lives in Miami with her husband and son, and is the city representative of Coral Gables for FTAA.
İffet Balak Savaş - Director (Raleigh, North Carolina): İffet Balak Savaş was born in Kayseri and grew up in İzmir, but her family's roots extend back to Tokat, hence she considers herself from Türkiye. İffet is a graduate of Ege University and holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural - Life Sciences. She has been a resident of Raleigh, NC since 1989. İffet is employed by LabCorp at the Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology in Research Triangle Park, NC and lead's Dianon Anatomic Pathology Lab.

A BTF supporter since 2004, İffet has been a member of BTF's Leadership Circle since 2007. She has served as a fundraising coordinator and lead BTF's BUVAK and ZİCEV projects in İzmir. Music, dancing, swimming, hiking and singing are among her hobbies. She has been a folk dancer since she was in elementary school and enjoys international folk music and dance during her spare time.
Jill Stockwell - Director (Temple, New Hampshire): Jill Stockwell was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in New Hampshire. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she served as Volunteer Director of the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter and co-organized efforts to raise an over $130,000 endowment for the shelter. Jill spent her first year out of college in Turkey as a Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Fellow. After volunteering with the Biga Women's Cooperative in Canakkale, she contacted BTF about a collaborative fundraising effort for the Biga Women and Children's Center in the spring of 2009. Six months later the fundraising campaign came to a successful conclusion with the Chase Community Giving contest. Jill will return to Turkey in the spring of 2010 for the construction of the center.

Jill is currently applying to PhD programs in Comparative Literature and hopes to begin her graduate work in the fall of 2010. She looks forward to collaborating in the future on projects including girls' education and rural library development. Additionally, she is looking for marathon and half-marathon runners interested in supporting BTF - no experience necessary.
Jordan Michael Scepanski - Director (Chapel Hill, North Carolina): Jordan Scepanski is Dean Emeritus, California State University, Long Beach. He holds an undergraduate degree from Manhattan College, and graduate degrees from Emory University and the University of Tennessee at Nashville. He most recently was Dean of Library and Learning Resources at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, prior to which he held the position of Executive Director of the Triangle Research Libraries Network, a consortium of Duke, North Carolina Central, and North Carolina State Universities, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has worked in libraries, library organizations, and academic institutions in California, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee, in Ankara, Turkey, and in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the U.A.E. Mr. Scepanski has taught at California State University, Long Beach and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he has lectured and made numerous presentations at other institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

His acquaintance with Turkey dates from the mid-nineteen sixties when he lived in Turkey for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English as a foreign language to elementary, middle, and secondary school students in Elazig and Sakarya. He returned with his family in 1981 as a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Librarianship at Hacettepe University in Ankara and since has been a regular visitor and a presenter at Turkish professional conferences and other scholarly events. Mr. Scepanski resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife, H. Lea Wells, a former librarian who is a specialist in university faculty development and student learning outcomes assessment. They work together as Jordan Wells Associates, consulting on library and information issues and facilitating organizational and staff development.
Necla Sarıkaya, MPA - Director (Bozeman, Montana): Necla Sarıkaya is a native of Istanbul, Turkey and has been in the United States since 1990. She holds an undergraduate degree from Hacettepe University and a graduate degree from Montana State University. Necla is the co-owner and general manager of Belgrade Mini Storage. Among her memorable work experiences is a Congressional Internship for Robert Wexler (D-Rep, FL) at the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. She is a nature and animal lover that is also passionate about different cultures, people, and lands. Her hobbies include traveling, photography, horse back riding, hiking and skiing. Necla has been active in service organizations and many charitable events related to philanthropy. As a director of BTF, her responsibilities include Annual Student Enablement Programs and Development of Business Partnerships as well as Special Collaborative Youth Programs on both sides of our Bridge.
Serkan Holat - Director (Amsterdam, Netherlands): Serkan Holat was born in Stuttgart - Germay in 1981, and moved to İstanbul with his family at the age of 4. Since childhood, Serkan's interest has been computers, and in the years it became his expertise. After living in İstanbul for 20 years, he moved to the Netherlands. Serkan currently works as a software developer and lives in Amsterdam.

In Istanbul, Serkan volunteered with the Youth for Habitat association which is an international youth network in partnership with the United Nations. He worked in a project called “Bilenler Bilmeyenlere Bilgisayar Öğretiyor” providing computer training to people who have not had the opportunity to get this education. He is also one of the founders of a study and research group called “Doktorasızlar”.

He joined the BTF Family in 2008, during the Case Giving Challenge and coordinates BTF's online projects and social media networking campaigns.
Sezin Demircioğlu Zanagar - Director (New York, New York): Sezin Demircioğlu Zanagar, a native of Denizli, lived in Istanbul for 10 years. Sezin earned her BA in Philosophy from Bogazici University, and four years later, in 2004, she moved to New York City. Since 2006, Sezin has been working as a Major Gifts Specialist at AFS-USA, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing intercultural learning experiences to individuals through study abroad programs.

A member of the BTF Leadership Circle since 2008, Sezin sponsored two Denizli students with micro-scholarships, and recently founded the Facebook cause, Education Partnership for Children of Denizli. The group is dedicated to empowering economically disadvantaged children of Denizli. In its first porject in 2008, the group helped install a playground for the students of the Kutlubey Şehit Er Atakan Caran İ.Ö.O.

Postcards from the Field

BTF was founded on the belief that ordinary people of modest means can do extraordinary things - especially when we do it together. Chip-In together, Give-Back together, Leverage our individual investments together to collectively change the lives of Turkish children. Please Donate Now!