The "Legacies of Women Forum" Was Held with Strong Participation and Great Interest

The event began with the opening speech of Prof. Dr. Esra Hatipoğlu, President of Bahçeşehir University. In her speech, Hatipoğlu emphasized the critical role of women's leadership, inclusive growth and universities in driving sustainable transformation. Following the opening, Irene Natividad shared striking data on the representation of women in leadership positions around the world. She underlined the importance of increasing the visibility of women leaders and connecting young people with strong role models. Natividad also stated that the Global Summit of Women, to be held in Istanbul on June 4–6, 2026, aims to bring together approximately 1,000 participants from more than 60 countries and make women's leadership stories from Türkiye visible on a global scale.

As part of the forum, Nazlı Altıpat, CEO of Estée Lauder Türkiye; Işıl Kılınç Gürtuna, CEO of IBM Türkiye; Bahar Uçanlar, CEO of Diageo Türkiye; and Eda Uluca Özcan, CEO of Pluxee Türkiye, shared their career journeys, the challenges they have faced, the responsibilities of leading in an age of uncertainty, and their outlook on the future. In the panel moderated by Irene Natividad, experiences from a wide range of sectors, from cosmetics to technology and from e-commerce to beverages, were shared, while topics such as the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence, changing leadership approaches and work-life balance were discussed through the speakers' inspiring personal experiences.

Hosting this distinguished group of leaders was an inspiring experience for the participants and the university community. We thank all the speakers, participants and everyone who contributed to making this meaningful event possible.