Elif Kalan
www.ihtiyacharitasi.org - Co - Founder

Ms. Kalan is one of the co-founders of www.ihtiyacharitasi.org which is an online platform aims to create social good through technology engagement with community. The platform is designed as social entrepreneurship model that brings people and institutions that are in need of materials and volunteers and those who can support these needs. The platform as well as creates opportunities people in volunteering for community development in neighborhoods. Ms. Kalan manages and coordinates the overall activities of the platform with her partners. The platform also creates solutions for immediate crisis by opening its technology to the groups affected by the crisis such as Syrians, natural disasters and etc.

Ms. Kalan began working at Habitat as a volunteer in 2005. She took part in various youth activities. She represented Turkey at UN Global Youth Leadership Summits in 2006. She supported the establishment of youth councils within the Local-Agenda 21 Program. Later, she worked as a project coordinator and consultant at UN Agencies such as UNDP and UNICEF where she managed local development and training programs with youth and children on human rights, child rights, discrimination, conflict resolution, peace education as well as participatory decision making programs and city designs for children with municipalities.

Ms. Kalan studied on Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University, holds MA degree on Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Sabancı University in Turkey and MSc degree on Political Sociology from London School of Economics and Social Sciences in London as a Jean-Monnet scholar.