AmCham Team

Executive Director
Aslı Özelli
Executive Director

Aslı Özelli joined AmCham Turkey in July 2018 as Executive Director. Before joining AmCham, Aslı was the Deputy Secretary General at DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Board).

Aslı Özelli is elected as Member at Large to AmChams in Europe (ACE) Executive Committee for the term 2022-2023. ACE is the AmCham Network covering 43 countries in Europe and Eurasia.

She also is nominated as a Million Women Mentorship Program Ambassador by U.S. Chamber, to support MWM’s goals between American companies in Turkey as part of STEM initiative. As part of her D&I voluntary works, she is also an Ambassador for Women Leadership Platform supported by EBRD, KAGIDER, TurkishWin and UPS.

During her career at DEIK for 18 years, Aslı was in charge of 27 different countries (United States, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela) Business Councils and Sectoral Business Councils (Health Tourism Business Council, Higher Education Business Council (studyinTurkey), Energy Business Council, Logistics Business Council and International Consultancy Business Council.)

After graduation, she worked as an advisor for the then NATO Parliamentarian Committee Turkish Chapter Chair and worked for Ericsson Marketing department in Ankara, respectively. During her university years, Aslı had internships as a legal officer at UNCHR Ankara and as a journalist at Deutche Presse Agentur (DPA) in Ankara.

Aslı earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ)International Relations. She graduted from Izmir Ozel Turk High School and was selected among few for the first American Intercultural Student Exchange (AISE) Scholarship program where she had her Junior High Year in Seattle, WA. She is married with 2 kids.

asli.ozelli(at)amchamturkey.com

Communications Director
Pınar Işlak
Communications Director

Pınar Işlak is the Communications Director of AmCham Turkey/ABFT (American Business Forum in Turkey) since March 2016. Previously, she served as Public Affairs Executive (AVP) at Citibank between 2006-2014, responsible for Media Relations, Reputation and Crisis Management, Internal Communications, Event Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. During the year 2015, she has worked as a Communications Associate at AmCham UK, based in London. Pinar gained her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Bogazici University. She holds an MBA degree from Galatasaray University and an MA degree in International Marketing from Cardiff Met University. 

pinar.islak(at)amchamturkey.com

 

Government Affairs Director
Ebru Kunt Akın
Government Affairs Director

Ebru Kunt Akın is the Government Affairs Director of AmCham Turkey since February 2021. Prior to AmCham, she was the Senior Public & Corporate Relations Program Manager at German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Turkey) between 2018-2021. During this role, she coordinated different sectoral working groups, consolidating member opinions into position papers and communicating them with the related public sector leaders. She also organized Turkey-Germany Economy Meetings four times a year with the participation of high-level public sector representatives from both countries.

Prior to AHK Turkey, she carried out different academic roles. Between 2006-2008, besides her full scholarship for master’s degree, she established and led the Black Sea and Caucasus Research Center at Bahçeşehir University. Between 2008-2009, she was a teaching assistant at Sabancı University with full scholarship for her doctorate study. Between 2009-2014, she was a teaching assistant as well as doctorate student with full scholarship at Istanbul Bilgi University. Before academic roles, she was the Business Council Coordinator for Eurasia region at DEIK between 1998-2006. As a graduate of Marmara University and Istanbul Erkek High School, she was an AFS exchange student at St.Louis Missouri. Married with a daughter, Ebru speaks both English and German.

ebru.kunt(at)amchamturkey.com 

Hande Yurtsever
Hande Yurtsever
Finance and Administration Director

Hande Yurtsever joined AmCham Türkiye as Finance and Administration Director in April 2023. She has been continuing to work in business organizations for more than 17 years. After receiving her bachelor's degree in International Relations, she started her career at the Turkish Foreign Trade Foundation.

She has worked in different roles at the International Investors Association (YASED) for 9 years. She is experienced in financial management, human resources, event organization, member relations. After completing her Master's Degree in Public Relations and Corporate Communications at Bilgi University, she has worked as the Finance and Communications Coordinator at the Mobile Telecommunicatons Operators Association.(m-TOD )

In parallel with her business life, she takes voluntary roles in different organizations as a member, founding member, volunteer founder, member of the supervisory board and member of the board of directors including Alpindak Nature Sports Club, Açık Açık Association, KODA, TOG, TEGV. As a civil society professional, she works as a volunteer to increase the institutional capacity of many non-governmental organizations.

She is also a Mindfulness Trainer (with the Eline Snel method) and Happiness Coach (Berkeley Well-Being Institute California). She is the member of the board of the Professional Women's Network Association (PWN İstanbul) as a treasurer and leader of PWN Angle Circle Network Project and she is actively involved her volunteering roles.

Government Affairs Manager
Nesibe Kırış
Government Affairs Manager

Nesibe Kırış joined AmCham Türkiye as Government Relations Manager in September 2023.

Nesibe's academic foundation in law and sociology from Koç University became a stepping stone for her into the realm of governmental affairs and public policy consultancy. With over 4 years of experience, she has been able to contribute to Turkey's tech scene, working with notable start-ups and established tech companies.

In her journey, Nesibe also lent her expertise to Ussal Consultancy as a Public Policy Consultant from August 2019 to December 2022. In this role, she delved into areas such as technology policy and diplomacy, while also engaging in governmental relations and B2B diplomacy.

In July 2022, Nesibe initiated Web3 Brew, a newsletter demystifying topics like AI and blockchain for over 3,000 subscribers. Through Web3 Brew, she provides a digest of latest developments, keeping her readers informed and engaged. Nesibe continued to share her insights as a Public Policy Columnist/Advisor with CoinDesk Türkiye and also took on a mentorship role at Hackquarters in London, extending her reach to budding tech startups.

nesibe.kiris(at)amchamturkey.com 

Elif Soyer
Elif Soyer
Member Relations Coordinator

Elif Soyer joined AmCham Turkey as Member Relations Coordinator in August 2022. She has almost 30 years of professional experience, including 23 years experience of management, air express, OHSAS, advertising and NGO. She has intense expertise in all level of sales, people management, project management. Before joining AmCham Turkey, Elif has worked as project coordinator for the German‑Turkish Partnership Professional Skills Development Project. The project is funded and managed by the German Ministry of Federal Economic Co‑operation and Development (BMZ) by sequa.de. Elif gained her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Istanbul University. She completed her master’s degree at Uskudar University (Occupational Health and Safety)  and Istanbul Medeniyet University (Management of Non-Governmental Organizations). She is married with a son.

elif.soyer(at)amchamturkey.com