Speakers 2025 – People Make The Brand

There is a reason why we are addressing the theme of 13th People Make the Brand under the title FROM EPILOGUE TO PROLOGUE!

A prologue signifies that everything that has happened up until now—including what is captured in a story’s foreword—lays the foundation for what is yet to come. The past serves as a basis for the present and the future alike. This is precisely why Shakespeare referred to the past as a prologue.

At People Make the Brand 2025, we invite all our stakeholders to co-write the foreword of the future. We propose that what we’ve learned from the past can be used to understand the present and shape what lies ahead. We call on all participants to think critically, creatively, and deconstructively about the future.

M. Serdar Kuzuloğlu

Technology Columnist & Trend Hunter

Serdar Kuzuloğlu is a prominent figure in media and technology, with a career spanning leadership, entrepreneurship, investment, and consulting across numerous digital projects. He has written for major newspapers such as Posta, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, and Oksijen, and produced radio and TV programs for outlets including NTV Radio and TRT. As Director of New Generation Services at Doğan TV Holding, he shaped the group’s digital strategies, while founding pioneering platforms such as Televidyon and Alkışlarla Yaşıyorum. He currently writes columns for Oksijen, publishes the weekly newsletter Dünya Halleri, inspires a wide audience with his podcast Haddini Aşan Yaşam Rehberi, and participates as a professional speaker in corporate events.

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Prof. Dr. Evren Balta

Faculty Member, Department of International Relations, Özyeğin University & Academic Coordinator, TÜSİAD Global Politics Forum

Prof. Dr. Evren Balta is a faculty member at Özyeğin University’s Department of International Relations. Her research focuses on the intersections of democracy, citizenship, domestic politics, and international affairs. She is the author of The American Passport in Turkey (recipient of the 2021 ASA Award) and The Age of Uneasiness, among several other publications on Turkish politics and security. She has held visiting positions at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna, and currently serves as a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. She is also a regular columnist for T24 and the Academic Coordinator of TÜSİAD’s Global Politics Forum.

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Prof. Dr. Zafer Yenal

Sabancı University, Faculty of Management, Faculty Member

Prof. Dr. Zafer Yenal joined Sabancı University and the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) in September 2024, after serving as a professor of sociology at Boğaziçi University since 2000. He received his B.A. in Economics from Middle East Technical University in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Sociology from Binghamton University, New York, in 2000. His research areas include sustainability studies, sociology of consumption, sociology of food, rural sociology, political economy, human geography, and historical sociology. Yenal has produced numerous articles, books, exhibitions, radio and TV programs, as well as podcasts on these topics. For the past three years, he has also been the author of Zappa Zamanlar, a popular social science newsletter.

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Dr. Behice Ece İlhan

Cultural Strategist & Digital Transformation Advisor | Human-Centered Tech Leadership | Consumer Culture Scholar

Dr. Behice Ece İlhan is a visionary culture strategist and thought leader at the intersection of technology, human behavior, and business transformation. She has served as Culture Strategy Director at Deloitte Digital and Senior Trend Strategist & Brand Futurist at Mintel, guiding global leaders through major periods of change and helping grow their businesses. Holding a PhD in Business from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Dr. İlhan’s research focuses on consumer culture, transmedia engagement, and cultural branding, and she continues to shape future leaders as a Visiting Lecturer at DePaul University. Her expertise in human-centered digital transformation and strategic foresight enables organizations to develop innovative, value-driven solutions in fast-changing markets.

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Selman Nacar

Film Director and Producer

Selman Nacar is a filmmaker, with an MFA in Film Directing from Columbia University in New York City. He gave lectures on fictional filmmaking at the same university. He graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Law in 2015 and from the Faculty of Film in 2016. Nacar’s debut Between Two Dawns premiered at the 69th San Sebastian Film Festival and received many awards, including the Best Film Award at the 39th Torino Film Festival. Nacar’s second film premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival, and received many awards, including the Best Film Award at the 19th Zurich Film Festival, Best Screenplay Award at APSA also known as Asian Oscars. He is the writer & director of the Netflix Original Series Istanbul Encyclopedia, which will be released in 2025.

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Prof. Dr. Muhammed Şahin

Rector, Mef University

Professor Sahin graduated from the Geomatics Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 1987, with the highest grades. Professor Sahin received his master's degree from University College London in 1991, and his PhD degree from University of Newcastle in 1994. He became an assistant professor in 1994, an associate professor in 1998 and a tenured Professor in 2002 at ITU. He was a short-term visiting fellow at Graz Technical University in 1997 and at Berlin Technical University in 2000.

Professor Sahin was appointed as the Rector of Istanbul Technical University on August 6th, 2008 and his tenure ended on August 6th, 2012. In 2009, Prof. Sahin was the first and only rector from Turkey to be elected as a member of the Board of Directors of CESAER (Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research), based in Belgium and including the most prominent engineering universities in Europe. In February 2012, Professor Sahin was nominated and elected unanimously to the four-member Executive Board of CESAER on account of the contributions he had made to “Research and Strategy Management at Universities”.

Professor Sahin is the founding rector of MEF University, the first fully and only university in the world established entirely based on the flipped learning methodology. He has held this position since March 2013. He is also a member of the Board of MEF Schools.

Oytun Önder

Partner, KPMG Türkiye

Oytun Önder is a Partner of KPMG Türkiye. He is a seasoned professional specializing in litigation support services in cases of corporate misconduct and commercial disputes. He has extensive experience in evidence gathering, damage assessments, and expert witness reporting in both national and international proceedings. Beyond dispute resolution, he leverages insights from misconduct investigations to design prevention and compliance programs, while also contributing to the wider business and social community through lectures, trainings, and publications aimed at strengthening ethical awareness. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Middle East Technical University (METU); his master’s thesis on corruption and misconduct in the construction industry is recognized as the first academic study of its kind worldwide. A Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Önder has served on the management and supervisory boards of the Ethics and Reputation Society and conducted research on the profiles of misconduct perpetrators.

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Francesco Buquicchio

Global CEO, Egon Zehnder

Francesco Buquicchio is Egon Zehnder's Global Chief Executive Officer. Based in Zurich, he is a trusted advisor to CEOs and family shareholders on a wide range of leadership issues. He has a deep expertise in board effectiveness, leadership development and leadership succession planning, advising clients in a number of industries, including O&G, technology, telecom and services. Passionate about family owned companies, he serves families, owners, and managers in navigating the challenges of leadership, succession, and governance across generations. Francesco honed his management expertise while working in the telecommunications industry.

Before joining Egon Zehnder, he served as Director of Customer Operations at British Telecom Italy. He also worked as Sales & Marketing Director at the same company. Previously, he was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, and an Associate with TLcom Capital Partners in London, where he worked on M&A deals in the telecommunications and high-tech space in Europe and the U.S.

Francesco earned an MSc in Business Administration from Bocconi University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. İzel Levi Coşkun

CEO, Mazars Denge

Dr. İzel Levi Coşkun was born in 1973 in Istanbul. He studied at the University of Istanbul, English Faculty of Business Administration, and received his master's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He completed his doctorate at the Marmara University in 2013 by completing his thesis on “From the Turkish Consumer’s Perspective, the Relationship Between Corporate Sustainability Components and Brand Equity Components”. He has worked at Forvis Mazars Türkiye since 1992 and is currently their CEO and Corporate Sustainability Ambassador. He serves on the boards of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD), the Business for Goals (B4G) Platform and the Turkey Informatics Foundation (TBV). He has active roles in many NGOs and civil associations such as the Marine Life Protection Association (DYK), Buğday, Endeavor, Young Executive Businessperson’s Association (GYIAD), the Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (KMKD), The Turkish Family Business Association (TAIDER), The Turkish Association of Certified Public Accountants and Certified Public Accountants (TURMOB).

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Murat Yeşildere

İstanbul Office Leader, Egon Zehnder

Murat Yesildere, based in Istanbul, provides a full range of services from executive search and board consulting to management appraisals, serving clients across a variety of industries and functions. Deeply experienced in talent management and leadership assessments, Murat is also passionate about diversity and inclusion.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder in 2000, Murat primarily worked in the banking sector. He was a Country Manager at CDI-Erste Bank, based in Istanbul, and earlier established the largest private mutual fund to serve a community of clothing and textile manufacturers. Other previous employers included GSD Investment Bank, K Leasing & Factoring, and Philip Morris International.

Murat earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul and an MSc in Business Economics from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Science & Technology. He serves on the board of PERYON, the national HR association of Turkey, as well as in the Turkish chapters of International Board Ready Women and the Professional Women’s Network. Murat is also a regular columnist for the monthly “Platin” magazine, writing about business, leadership, governance, diversity, and sports management, and regularly blogs on muratyesildere.com. He cofounded a “he for she” initiative called Yanındayız, a platform for Turkish men to support women, and has published a book on diversity called “Oh nooo… the CEO is giving birth”.

EVRİM KURAN

Evrim Kuran Consulting, Founder - Universum, Country Leader

Kuran has a BA in English Language & Literature at Hacettepe University and an Executive MBA degree at Sabancı University. She studied Behavioral Economics, Culture of Innovation and Design Thinking at Harvard Business School where she received a Certificate of Management Excellence. Since 2000, Evrim Kuran has been conducting generational research, organizational attractiveness, DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) studies, and reverse mentoring programs.

Kuran has worked with many local and global employer brands. She is the Country Leader for Türkiye of world’s leading employer branding research and consulting company, Universum. She is also the creator and the curator of People Make the Brand conferences since 2013. Kuran is a Board Member of YetGen Coop – an initiative focusing on developing 21st century skills for youth, an Advisory Board member of People Management Association of Türkiye (PERYON), Sabancı School of Management, KAGİDER, TEVİTÖL and LEAD Network Türkiye, as well as a member of Global Relations Forum (GRF). Evrim Kuran teaches Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at MEF University. She is also an Independent Board Member at Mondelez International Türkiye.

Besides her career as a consultant, she is also a keynote speaker and a columnist and her articles are published at certain national and global publications and portals. She is also the author of four books, Telgraftan Tablete (From Telegram to Tablet) in which she wrote about the five generations of Türkiye, Z: Bir Kuşağı Anlamak (Z: Understanding a Generation) which scrutinizes generation Z through various research findings, Onlar Göçtü Buradan (They Moved From Here) in which Kuran focuses on the brain drain among the new generations of Türkiye and Başarılı Bir Kadın Olduğum için Özür Dilerim (Sorry For Being a Successful Woman) which covers her research on impostor phenomenon.

SERDAR TURAN

Harvard Business Review Türkiye, Editor in Chief

Having completed his master’s degree in business administration after an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, Serdar Turan became a co-founder of Infomag Yayıncılık in 2000.

He has been leading the teams publishing Turkish editions of Businessweek since November 2005 and Harvard Business Review since October 2012. At the moment, he is the chief editor of both Harvard Business Review Türkiye and Bloomberg Businessweek Türkiye.