North America
A proud recipient of the Richard von Weisacker Fellowship of the Bosch Stiftung in 2014, Filiz Bikmen focused her research on the civic engagement of next generations born, raised and living in Germany, with family origins in Turkey. Agency for positive social change has always been an interest area for Filiz, having first read Martin Seligman’s book ‘Learned Optimism’ in the early 1990s, sparking a passion for empowering and supporting the well-being of others. Her Masters in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University led her into change management consultant roles in New York, where she was born and raised by parents immigrating from Turkey. Filiz moved to Istanbul in 1999 and worked briefly in the newly emerging entrepreneurship and venture capital industry. At the time, the philanthropy sector was responding to effects of the major earthquake in Istanbul in 1999, and as such Filiz transitioned to working at various foundations in 2000, leading to a career of now nearly 25 years in the sector.
Previous posts include senior positions at: TUSEV (Council of Foundations in Turkey) and Sabanci Foundation, where she led the design of new strategies, program investments and ultimately, creating greater social impact. She has served in leadership positions on Boards / Councils of various philanthropy related international organizations (International Center for Non Profit Law/Chair, EFC- now Philea/Governing Council Member, and WINGS/Advisory Council). She currently serves as an Advisory Board member of Alliance Magazine (UK) and Turkish Philanthropy Funds (NY) of which she was a founding Board Member. She established ‘Constellations for Change’ in 2013 an advisory for social investment and philanthropy in Turkey and abroad. Since then, Filiz served several global clients and since 2014 has been working deeply with two organizations which inspire her- as Founding Director (now Senior Advisor) of Esas Sosyal (social investment arm of investment company Esas Holding, founded by Sabanci family), and Senior Advisor to EMpower Foundation/Turkey programs (youth funder focused on emerging markets). With deep expertise and interest in philanthropy networks and ecosystems, in Turkey and globally, Filiz has authored more than 30 publications (many available on academic.edu) , most recently ‘Philanthropy Networks: Creating Value, Voice and Collective Impact’ published by the network WINGS and was also a recipient of the City University of New York Fellowship on Philanthropy in 2006.
Last updated: 2024