Legacy of Ziya G. Boyacıgiller Lives on through Memorial Giving
New York, NY (June 19, 2015) – Turkish Philanthropy Funds announces the establishment of a Memorial Fund for Ziya G. Boyacıgiller to support women’s education and entrepreneurship in Turkey. Ziya G. Boyacıgiller was a director of the board and a founding partner of our organization. He passed away after a battle with cancer at the age of sixty-one on June 19, 2014.
Known to many as “Ziya Abi”, Boyacıgiller, along with his wife Nakiye, were among the early supporters of the Turkish Philanthropy Funds. “Today is bittersweet. We miss him very much. But in a proper “Ziya abi” fashion, instead of giving in to sadness, we are celebrating his life, work and legacy. What better way to do that than to help give life to innovation by enabling future entrepreneurs. He was the embodiment of a true entrepreneur who also loved giving back to his country. His legacy of perseverance and generosity will live on through the young talents our fund will support” said Ozlenen Eser Kalav, CEO and the Chairman of Turkish Philanthropy Funds.
The fund will make its first gift to the Entrepreneurship Foundation (Girisicimciler Vakfi) to support youth participating in their fellowship program. Ziya G. Boyacıgiller Entrepreneurship Foundation Fellowship will be open to students from all universities between the ages of 17-24. The fellows will be given access to a network of leading national and international entrepreneurs of the foundation who provide hands on mentoring to aspiring college students.
“When we returned to Turkey in 2003, Ziya made his mission to help create a world-class, technology-based entrepreneurship environment in Turkey. Now, this duty falls on us. He also felt strongly about promoting women to key roles in the society. Our daughters Esen, Belkıs and I hope that this fund will overtime will become a flagship source for supporting ideas that are at the intersection of women, education and entrepreneurship,” said Nakiye Boyacıgiller. His collected writings, lectures and presentations on innovation, strategy and leadership can be viewed at www.ziyaboyacigiller.com/.
Ziya G. Boyacıgiller was an entrepreneur, investor and a mentor. He made early-stage investments in innovative technology-driven start-up companies (in Silicon Valley and Istanbul) and worked with the founding teams to help grow their companies. He was instrumental in the international and strategic growth of several Turkish companies, such as Artesis and Vistek, and most notably Airties, where he was an investor and board member. He was a founding member of Galata Business Angels, Turkey’s first and foremost angel network, and also a mentor at Endeavor Turkey. Prior to relocating to Istanbul, he was a Business Unit Vice President/General Manager at Maxim Integrated Products – a NASDAQ 100 semiconductor company based in Silicon Valley. Ziya G. Boyacıgiller joined Maxim in 1983 as a founding partner and served in various technical and executive management capacities for 17 years, helping build the company to over one billion dollar in revenues. Ziya G. Boyacıgiller taught at Sabanci University and served on the advisory board of Boğaziçi University. He was a pioneer in the personal computer-based electronics design and conceived the world’s first digitally calibrated 14-bit data converters. An electrical engineer by training, he has had degrees from UCLA and Boğaziçi University.
Special donations made in the memory of Ziya G. Boyacıgiller will be directed to the Boyacigiller Memorial Fund.
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Turkish Philanthropy Funds is a New York based community foundation that enables donors to realize their philanthropic passions for Turkey. With the plethora of NGOs, knowing where to invest your charitable dollars is a challenge. TPF funds the most effective programs, and partners with them to maximize results. TPF does this by strengthening individual giving and by providing knowledge and solutions for the community in the areas of education, gender equality, development and disaster relief. TPF is a tax-exempt organization described in Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent provided by law. Tax ID: 20-8392006.
