New York, August 11, 2022 — Turkish Philanthropy Funds is pleased to announce that Mustafa Kemal Abadan, Aykut Atali, and Ülkü Rowe have been elected to serve as members of the Board of Directors as of July 1, 2022. Each of these new Board members brings with them a unique perspective and the same unyielding drive to inspire impactful giving.
“The directors and I are proud to welcome these three incredible leaders as new colleagues on the TPF Board,” said Mehmet Kirdar, TPF’s Board Chair. “These individuals will add tremendous value to the organization with their philanthropic expertise from across the private and nonprofit sectors.”
“Our Board of Directors is comprised of a dedicated team of community leaders committed to providing strength, vision and guidance to inspire and mobilize innovative, high-impact philanthropy that benefits our communities. We are excited to channel Mustafa Kemal, Aykut, and Ülkü’s talent, expertise, and energy into furthering our mission,” said Senay Ataselim-Yilmaz, Executive Director of TPF. “New members’ ties to Turkey and dedication to advancing high-impact philanthropy adds invaluable leadership experience and perspective to our board.”
Aykut Atali is a Partner at McKinsey & Company in the Silicon Valley office and advises executives of big and small companies focusing on operations strategy in the high tech and telecom industries. He is the global leader of McKinsey’s high tech, media, and telecom operations with deep experience in cloud infrastructure, data center operations, hardware manufacturing, and digital operational transformations. Aykut holds a Ph.D. in Management Science from Stanford University, where his graduate work focused on supply chain visibility and inventory management. Aykut’s knowledge of technology and operations management will help guide TPF in the evolving world of technology and philanthropy combined.
“As a proud Turkish-American family, we have a commitment to give back where we live, where we come from, and to invest in our communities. We want our children to grow up learning about the culture of giving. I’m very excited to be part of the TPF team and looking forward to contributing to TPF’s mission to invest in youth in Turkey,” said Aykut on his appointment to TPF’s Board of Directors.
The board additionally also welcomes Ülkü Rowe, Engineering Director at Google Cloud’s Office of the CTO. At the forefront of Google’s cloud, data analytics, and machine learning capabilities, Ülkü enables the financial services industry to fuel their digital transformation. Ülkü received her MS degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her BS degree in Computer Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Ülkü serves on the board of many institutions as a trustee or an advisory and brings TPF new perspectives in financial and program management.
“We are responsible for the world we live in. We owe it to the next generations to leave them a better future where everyone can have equitable access to education, employment, and civil rights. I hope to do my part in achieving that, and every person I can touch along the way will be the legacy I leave in this world. TPF’s focus on high-impact philanthropy is what drew me to TPF. TPF has been a proven powerful change agent in addressing the economic, social, and environmental challenges of communities in Turkey and around the world.” said Ülkü on her appointment to TPF’s Board of Directors.
We are also honored to welcome back Mustafa Kemal Abadan, who served as TPF Board Chair between 2012-14. Mustafa Kemal is also a founder member of TPF and one of the pioneers who founded the organization. Mustafa Kemal Abadan is a design partner in the architectural firm of Skidmore Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM). Educated at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning, he received his Bachelor of Architecture in 1982 and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design in 1984. Mustafa joined SOM in 1983 and has been with the firm for 33 years. Mustafa Kemal is an active philanthropist supporting areas of need, from education to gender equality. Mustafa Kemal’s guidance will be a great contribution to TPF as we continue to grow as an organization and bring meaningful and long-term impact to our partners and community in Turkey.
To learn more about TPF’s Board of Directors, visit https://www.tpfund.org/about-us/governance/
