BOARD OF DIRECTORS - BİLGÜN GÜRKAN

After graduating from Izmir American Girls' High School and Boğaziçi University Department of Business Administration, Ms. Bilgün Gürkan completed her Executive MBA at INSEAD in 1998. In 2022, she completed INSEAD "Corporate Governance" and "Global Management Certificate” programs and was accepted to the "International Board Membership INSEAD Graduates Program.” 

In her business life, she has specialized in investment banking, syndicated loans, project finance, acquisition and sale consultancy and Corporate Governance for over 20 years at SAMBA, ABN AMRO BANK, Standard Bank, Renoir Management Consultancy.

She has been serving as the Turkey Representative and Country Manager of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (“BBK”) since 2016 and has been awarded the 2022 CEO Leadership Award by BBK for her contributions to the Strategy Committee and Sustainability issues at BBK.

Ms. Bilgün Gürkan works to develop commercial relations between the Gulf Region and Türkiye. She supports non-governmental organizations by serving as the President of DEİK Bahrain Turkey Business Council, President of TÜSİAD Gulf Network, Board Member of the 30 Percent Club and Board of Directors of the International Women's Forum Turkey Association and serving on the board of trustees and board of directors of TEMA Foundation. She is an independent board member and chairman of the risk committee at Smart Güneş Enerjisi Teknolojileri Araştırma Geliştirme Üretim Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş, which went public in 2022.

Ms. Bilgün Gürkan is married, mother of two children and speaks English fluently.