Elif Avcı

Elif Avcı, holding three master's degrees in Human Rights Law, Political Marketing, and Peace, Resilience, and Social Justice. She began her career as a child and adolescent psychologist at TOÇEV and continued as a Social Policy Specialist at Şişli Municipality's Social Equality Unit. After serving as Secretary General at Şişli City Council, she joined the social policy team in Ekrem İmamoğlu's candidacy campaign. Following her Rotary Peace Fellowship in England and Ecuador, she worked as the Coordinator of Social & Cultural Policies at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality then as a program manager at NDI Turkey, where she managed two different programs on institutionalizing civic participation processes of local governments and young women's political participation in politics. Avcı, who is the chairperson of Local Monitoring Research and Implementation (YERELİZ), which she co-founded, currently works as the participatation & engagement lead at Istanbul Planning Agency. Her deep commitment to inclusive and participatory cities and rights-based policies is evident in her professional and voluntary work with numerous civil society organisations.