2010 was a special year for the TurkishWIN. I thank you for your support, kindness and generosity in helping me turn an idea into  reality.

I am excited to share with you our upcoming events and new initiatives.

We will kick off the year with Elmira Bayrasli's talk, "Turks: Nomads or entrepreneurs?" on January 11, 2011. Elmira  will discuss how entrepreneurship has been the catalyst in Turkish politics and economics. Elmira Bayrasli writes and works on global development issues. She is working on a book development that focuses on aid and entrepreneurship. Some of the previous hats she wore include: Vice President for Policy & Outreach at Endeavor; Chief Spokesperson and Director of Press and Public Information at the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo; and member of Madeleine K. Albright’s team at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. 

We thank Imge Soker for hosting this TurkishWIN talk at the HSBC USA in New York. You can RSVP here.

Save the dates for these amazing talks:

February 17, 2011: "Building Your Brand Using Social Media" by Idil Cakim, Senior Vice President of Interactive Media in GolinHarris’s Dialogue Group 
March 15, 2011: "Intercultural Learning and The Journey of Making of a Global Citizen" by R. Muge Yuzuak, Global Business Executive  

 Now, to the new initiatives! We are working on TurkishWIN's mentorship program and new programming in 2011, which will include events in Turkey and virtual programming. Stay tuned!

If you would like to volunteer your precious time, please raise your hand and email me at infoatturkishwindotcom to join one of the following groups: programming, mentorship and marketing.

Last but not least, we would like to thank Duygu Ordu and Kivanc Anar who have documented the TEDWomen simulcast TurkishWIN co-sponsored in early December.

I wish you and your families a wonderful year filled with love, laughter and success in good health! 

TurkishWIN is one of the proud sponsors of the simulcast of the TEDWomen conference hosted by TEDxGotham in New York City. 

TEDWomen will take place in Washington D.C.You can share one or both days with a local community of TED-minded women and men in New York. The simulcast gatherings will take place at Booz & Co. on December 7th (101 Park Ave.) and BR Guest on December 8th (206 Spring St. @6th Ave).

To Register for the simulcast on December 7th, please click here

To Register for the simulcast on December 8th, please click here

Space is limited to several dozen seats for both events, so please RSVP soon if interested. This is a free event. If you do not live in New York, you can look-up a local simulcast at this link.

As a Chinese philosopher once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

2010 has been a year of preparations and anticipation to launch the Turkish Women's International Network. Our goal is to provide a global trust network for accomplished Turkish women around the world and their community.

TurkishWIN's kick-off event took place on November 11th in New York City and featured Defne Ayas, Arthub Asia Director and Performa Curator. Split between Shanghai and New York, Defne Ayas works as a director of programs to Arthub Asia, a multi-disciplinary organization devoted to contemporary art creation in China and rest of Asia, and as an art history professor at New York University in Shanghai. Ayas is also curator of PERFORMA since 2004, the biennial  visual art performance of New York City, where she has presented more than fifty live performances and performance-related programs with an international roster of artists, curators, and critical thinkers.

Defne's talk's title was "Goddesses: Goddesses may take us to the very heart of what it is to be a woman." She shared with us the connections between the goddess culture and our contemporary lived experience and what it is that we share with our ancestors. The talk promises to be a visual compendium from a variety of contexts, encompassing both Eastern and Western references, with a special focus on Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, and draws upon art, mythology, and spirituality. With illuminating commentary, Defne positions a group of fascinating Goddesses within their cultural context, from those of the early Egyptian civilization to the forgotten pre-Islamic Arab ones as found in art and literature. Surveyed together, goddesses promise to reveal many of the most fundamental archetypes of a woman's universal experience in this world. Interested in the universal power of female deities and their expression in society, Defne aims to bridge the gap between religions and civilizations and remind us of the lost connections in-between. was an amazing success. 

You can watch Defne's talk here. The pictures of the event are below. Join us at Facebook to hear about upcoming events!

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