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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Leadership Shaped by Experience

The Board of Directors of Gözde Girişim comprises experienced professionals with diverse expertise in investment, finance, industry, technology, strategy, and corporate governance.

The Board of Directors sets the company’s long-term strategic direction and oversees its investment activities, risk management, and corporate governance practices. It carries out its responsibilities with the aim of ensuring the company’s sustainable growth and creating long-term value for its shareholders.

Murat Ülker

Chairman of the Board of Directors

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Mehmet Tütüncü

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors

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Yahya Ülker

Board Member

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Fezal Okur Eskil

Board Member

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Esra Kıvrak

Independent Board Member

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Fatma Pınar Ilgaz

Independent Board Member

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Ali Tuğlu

Independent Board Member

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Independent Board Member

Esra Kıvrak

Esra Kıvrak is a banker and senior manager with more than 30 years of experience in the banking industry. Between 1990 and 2018, she worked as a senior manager at Osmanlı Bankası, GarantiBBVA and Alternatifbank. In addition to her finance sector experience, she has led many projects on the development of women entrepreneurship and financing of SMEs in Türkiye. Lastly, she is the chairman of the executive board of a private company in the food industry and is a member of the Board of Directors of various associations.
She graduated from Boğaziçi University, Political Science at 1989, and received executive training on various subjects from leading universities in the USA, especially Wharton Business School.

Board Member

Fezal Okur Eskil

Fezal graduated from Boğaziçi University with a degree in Industrial Engineering in 1998, followed by an MBA and a Masters in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000. She began her career as a Management Consultant at A.T. Kearney in Chicago and later served as Operations Manager at Eczacıbaşı Baxter. Subsequently, she joined Philip Morris as Supply Chain Manager for Eastern Europe and Türkiye Cluster.
In 2007, Fezal joined Sabancı Holding, where she held several roles, including Strategy and Business Development Manager, Strategy and Business Development Director, and CEO Office Director. She also served as Enerjisa Enerji Strategy and Business Development Officer and led the Construction Business Unit at Kordsa as Director of Strategy and Business Development. During her tenure at Sabancı Holding, Fezal also served as a Board Member of Enerjisa, Carrefoursa, Teknosa, Kordsa, Temsa, and Sabancı DX.
In 2021, Fezal joined Yıldız Holding as Chief Strategy, Business Development and M&A Officer. She is responsible for corporate strategy and business development initiatives, mergers and acquisitions, ESG agenda of the group, as well as the business continuity and risk management functions. In addition to this role, she is a Board Member at Polinas, Adapazarı Şeker, Pendik Marina, Marsa, Makina Takım Endüstrisi, Yıldız Ventures, Gözde Tech Ventures, and serves also as an Executive Board Member at Yıldız Ventures.
She he has also been a Board Member of UN Global Compact Türkiye since 2023 and has been appointed as a Board Member of Türkiye Finans Participation Bank since 2025.

Independent Board Member

Fatma Pınar Ilgaz

Pınar Ilgaz graduated from İzmir Bornova Anatolian High School in 1983 and from Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration in 1988.Her areas of expertise include Integrated Thinking Approach, Sustainability, Governance Structures, Human Resources Management, Organizational Structure and Operations, Process-Based Management, and Institutionalization. After completing the Management Trainee Program at Emlak Bank in 1989, she worked in the investment loans evaluation department of the same bank. Following her role as Assistant Finance Manager at Vakıf Financial Leasing Inc. for three years, she has been working within ARGE since 1995.
She currently serves as a Managing Partner at ARGE Consulting, taking part in various projects. Within ARGE Consulting, she has led management consulting projects for more than 100 organizations across different sectors and company sizes, focusing on Strategic Assessment and Performance Improvement, Institutionalization, Sustainability Strategies, Integrated Reporting, Organization, and Human Resources. She provides consultancy services in governance, strategy, organization, and corporate performance management to leading companies in the international retail sector and in production, as well as international sales and marketing within the food industry. She serves as Vice Chairperson of the Board at Argüden Governance Academy, Board Member at Private Sector Volunteers Association (OSGD), Board Member at Günyüzü Association, and Member of the Sustainability Committee at Women on Board Association. She was selected for the “More Women on Boards” program and completed the training program designed to prepare participants for independent board membership, including mentorship and guidance, as part of the first group of 40 selected women executives in Turkey.She is a co-author of the books Corporate Governance Model, Change Management, Management of Voluntary Organizations, and Sustainable Success Model.

Independent Board Member

Ali Tuğlu

Ali Tuğlu is a senior executive and board member with more than 30 years of experience across the banking and technology sectors. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Istanbul Technical University, as well as Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Virginia Tech and in International Banking and Finance from Istanbul Commerce University.
Mr. Tuğlu began his career in the United States and subsequently held various leadership positions in Türkiye and across the region. Over the past two decades, he has assumed senior executive responsibilities in both the technology and banking industries. Most recently, he spent more than 11 years within Albaraka, where he joined in 2014 as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO), leading major strategic technology transformation initiatives. During this period, he oversaw globally scaled projects in payment systems, CRM, and digital banking, while also serving on the boards of ventures such as Insha Ventures, contributing to the growth of the fintech ecosystem.
Most recently, Mr. Tuğlu served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of AlbarakaTech Global, a company he led from the concept stage through its establishment and growth. During his five-year tenure, he transformed the organization into a certified technology hub delivering innovative solutions to the financial services industry in the areas of artificial intelligence, open banking, and data analytics.