Sabancı University's three-phase project entitled "Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Inspiring Change in Business Practices", which was carried out with the support of the Australian Embassy to support the potential of young leaders to create a transformation focused on sustainability, has ended with the final event. In the culmination of the project, a wide range of stakeholders from the public sector to the private sector, from financial institutions to NGOs, focused on action-oriented collaboration models and created the ground for new project ideas.
Sabancı University has reached the third and final leg of the "Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Inspiring Change in Business Practices" project, which is carried out with the support of the Australian Embassy. The roundtable meeting, which is the final event of the project that aims to support the potential of young leaders to create a transformation focused on sustainability, was held on May 22, 2025 on Sabancı University Altunizade Digital Campus. The event was attended by CDP Turkey Country Programs Manager Mirhan Köroğlu Göğüş, Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum Director Ata Can Bertay, Sabancı Business School Faculty Member Ozan Duygulu, CDP Turkey Project Manager Sude Sinem Figen, EBRD Turkey and Caucasus Regional Policy Leader İdil Bilgiç Alpaslan, EBRD Eurasia Energy President Şule Kılıç, Australian Consulate Economic Diplomacy Officer İlkim Eylül Biçer, Diplomat Bill Sandstorm from the Australian Consulate, IFC Social Expert Mihriban Demir, TÜSİAD Social Policies Department Director Ezgi Çelik, Turkish Development and Investment Bank Sustainability and Environmental Social Impact Management Assistant Specialist Begüm Özay, Dilara Tekşan from Turkish Development and Investment Bank, Sabancı Foundation General Manager Nevgül Bilsen Safkan, and Sabancı Foundation Programs Manager Sezin Dereci Kösem.
“We believe that this meeting will be the beginning of brand-new projects”
CDP Turkey Country Programs Manager Mirhan Köroğlu Göğüş made the following assessment regarding the project: “At CDP Turkey, we focus on social issues that intersect with climate and environment, and women’s empowerment efforts in economic and social areas. We conducted a pilot study within the scope of the ‘Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Inspiring Change in Business Practices’ project. This process progressed within the framework of a just transition, but particularly with a focus on sustainable finance. Now, we aim to develop a new sustainable finance project that will be structured on the basis of these foundations, based on the relationships of large companies with SMEs. Our aim is to create structures that support the sustainability steps of large companies towards SMEs. We believe that this meeting will be the beginning of brand-new projects.”
“We contribute to the transformation journey of young leaders”
Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum Director Ata Can Bertay said the following in his speech: “At the Corporate Governance Forum, we believe that progress in sustainability can only be achieved with strong human resources and data-driven management. In the final event of our ‘Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Inspiring Change in Business Practices’ project, which we carried out with the support of the Australian Embassy, we aimed to deepen the outcomes of the workshop we held last year in terms of financing and policy, to create action-oriented cooperation models and a roadmap with a wide group of stakeholders from the public sector to the private sector, from financial institutions to NGOs. We also discussed integrated financing models and pilot project opportunities. With our project, we aimed to contribute to the transformation journey of young leaders while also strengthening their capacity for multi-stakeholder dialogue and solution generation.”
Ideas were exchanged on sustainable business models
The first event of the project, which was implemented with a three-stage structure consisting of a panel, workshop, and roundtable meeting, was ‘Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Inspiring Change in Business Practices’ event held on Sabancı University Tuzla Campus in October 2024 with the participation of Australian Ambassador Miles Armitage. In the panel, professionals from different sectors shared their inspiring experiences with students and exchanged ideas on sustainable business models. In the second step, students, academics, and sector representatives came together in a workshop held on Sabancı University Altunizade Digital Campus in October to develop concrete suggestions and draft indicators for a just transition.