Başak Saral

Başak has worked towards sustainable development for the last 15+ years. Her work aimed to empower individuals as well as communities to actively participate in social, economic and political life as change makers. She has always prioritized capacity development for resilience, as well as sustainability and development.

With this perspective, she has designed, developed, led and monitored project-based partnerships with private sector, government and non-government organizations on sustainable development topics at institutions including UNDP, Habitat and Building Markets. These projects have addressed issues on digitalization and technology innovation; financial inclusion and education; enhancement of entrepreneurship ecosystems; green, inclusive and socially responsible business creation and development; circular economy solutions; livelihoods support for refugees as well as local governance, community empowerment, active citizenship, youth empowerment and gender equality.

Başak is a Co-founder of DCUBE, an R&D cooperative that facilitates circular economy solutions and transition to circular development. She supports and provides advisory to initiatives that facilitate sustainable development including the SDG Impact Accelerator. She is also an active member of the TOBB Women Entrepreneurship Board and the national Network on Checks and Balances. She serves on the board of directors of various companies and social enterprises as a partner. Previously, Başak sit at the executive board of the World Academy for Local Democracies of UCLG-MEWA and served as the Vice Chair of the Advisory Board on Youth of Council of Europe.

Başak holds a BA degree from Koç University, and two LLM degrees from Marmara University and Nottingham University. She is also a PFP fellow of the US State Department; she has completed her fellowship at the Global Accelerator MassChallenge in Boston