Dr. Turktan, appointed in 2015 as the Founding Chair of the W20 – Women 20, the outreach group of G20 established as a platform to enhance the women’s status and participation in the respective economies of the G20 countries to secure sustainable growth.
She has studied economy and she is a business school graduate from Bogazici University and New York University.
From 1988 to 2008, she worked as a professional executive and a board member of ABB, a Swiss-Swedish engineering company in Istanbul.
She is a founder and the former (2011-2015) President of KAGIDER, the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey. She is now a member of the Presidential Council of KAGIDER. In KAGIDER, she undertook the leadership to promote establishment of the W20.
She works as a consultant and mentor for various small to large companies establishing steps for their progress and development.
She has written a book on her leadership experiences called “the Dark Face of Leadership” based on her experience as an executive, leader and consultant. She had various published articles. She has a blog at guldenturktan.com where she writes about gender.
Dr. Turktan had been invited to be a member of the Advisory Council for Gender and Development for the World Bank Group in 2016.
She has been serving in the boards of various companies and all together she has totalling more than 125 years of board member and chair experience. She makes speeches and writes articles on the topics of leadership and organizational improvements, management, future of work and corporate governance as was well as gender.
In 2023 she was listed by Forbes 50:50 list for Europe, Africa & Middle East (50 women above 50).
She had been one of the founders of IWF (International Women’s Forum) in Turkiye and she has served as the third president of the board of Turkish IWF organisation between November 2019 and to February 2023.