Dr
Real name:
Melsa Ararat is the founding director of Corporate Governance Forum of Turkey(CGFT) hosted by the Sabanci University and was its Principle Researcher until July 2021. Prior to returning to the academia in 2003, she held various international management and board positions in Asia Pacific, Japan and Europe with specialization in global strategy, joint ventures and entry into new markets.
Dr. Ararat is involved in policy work; she has participated in the authorship of the the first CG Principles of Capital Markets Board of Turkey in 2003, and her research provided the background for the launch of Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index in 2015. Dr. Ararat's academic work focuses on boards, business groups and corporate governance in emerging economies. She has coordinated Ithe FC endorsed Emerging Markets Corporate Governance Research Network, chaired by Professor Stijn Claessens, together with Professor Burcin Yurtoğlu between 2009 and 2018. Ararat is an engaged scholar; she is the founding chair of 30% Club Turkey Campaign, the Independent Women Directors Program, Business Against Domestic Violance Project and CDP Turkey Climate Change and Water Programs. She has been elected to the board of Global Compact Turkey in 2019 for 3 years and has been serving on the board of governors of ICGN since 2015.
Dr. Ararat holds a PhD in Management- Strategy and Organization- from Istanbul University and an MSc in Thermodynamics and BSc in Chemical Engineering from METU. She has dual citizenship of the UK and Turkey, with a dual base in the Netherlands and Turkey.