Dr. Gonca Soysal was born and raised in Turkey. Big believer in equal access to high-quality education, she herself was lucky enough to attend the best public schools in Turkey at the time, including Ankara Ataturk Anadolu Lisesi and Ankara Fen Lisesi. She received a B.S. Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (ODTU) in 1995 and an M.E. Degree in Industrial and Systems of Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL in 1997. Before going back to academia, Gonca worked and lived in Istanbul for five years. First, as a Systems Manager for Procter & Gamble and then as a Management Consultant and Service Line Manager for Ernst & Young. After moving back to the US in 2002 to further her education, she received M.S and Ph.D. degrees in Marketing Analytics from the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University. Upon graduation, Gonca worked as an Assistant Professor of Marketing for University of Texas at Dallas and for University of Arkansas. In addition to teaching several marketing classes at undergraduate, graduate, and executive education levels to thousands of students over the years, Gonca is an empirical researcher, and her research has been published in top academic journals and cited in many media outlets. Her research focuses on retailing, pricing, and e-commerce.

Gonca’s journey with BTF started in 2014 with the urge to give back to her homeland from far away and contribute to the causes she is enthusiastic about. After a quick Google search, she came across BTF and felt herself home after learning about the values, and culture of the organization, and meeting the many selfless volunteers working hard to give back to Turkey. Since then, she served as the founder and leader of the BTF Dallas-Fort Worth Giving Circle, founder, and director of the BTF METU (ODTU) scholarships and BTF Board Member. In July 2023, Gonca was elected to serve as the Vice President of BTF by the Board of Directors. She also chairs the Outbound Programs Committee and is a member of the Donor Relations, Nominations, Governance and Executive Committees. Gonca and her husband Metehan live in Dallas, TX and have two daughters.

E-Mail : gonca@bridgetoturkiye.org