Ebru Nihan Celkan

Keynote Speaker

Speaker Profile

After graduating from Şişli Terakki High School, Ebru Nihan Celkan completed her undergraduate studies in Labor Economics and Industrial Relations at Uludağ University, followed by a master's degree in Marketing at Istanbul University.

In 2004, she started working at Volvo Construction Equipment. Until 2016, she held various positions at Volvo, including Sales Support Specialist, Marketing Specialist, and for six years, she served as the Marketing, CRM, and Sales Support Manager.

Ebru Nihan Celkan is also a playwright, with her plays such as Tetikçi, 17.31, Tilt, Kabuklu Sürprizli Hayvanlar, Nerde Kalmıştık?, Kimsenin Ölmediği Bir Günün Ertesiydi, Evim! Güzel Evim!, Babil, Benimle Gelir Misin? and Bir İhtimal Daha Var being performed at different theaters in Istanbul.

In 2017, she was selected as one of the four playwrights worldwide for the KIF (Krieg Im Frieden – Piece by Piece War) project initiated by Maxim Gorki Theater and the New Institute for Playwriting (NIDS). As part of this project, she wrote the play "Benimle Gelir Misin?" which premiered as "Last Park Standing" at Stuttgart City Theater in October 2019. The play, whose American premiere took place in May 2022, will be staged again in Germany in 2023.

In 2019, Ebru Nihan Celkan was awarded the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Scholarship by Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. This scholarship is granted annually to five artists whose work focuses on human rights and freedom of expression. During her time in Stuttgart, she designed and implemented the project "Untold Stories: Gender and Memory Walks" as part of the "Interacting with History" festival.

In 2020, she received the writing scholarship from the city of Stuttgart-Ludwigsburg. Under this scholarship, she wrote the text "Der Weltschmerz," which focuses on cultural diversity and gender.

In 2016, she founded Y+O, which produces workshop content on topics such as gender equality, cultural diversity, ethical and fair management. The workshop content aims to transform subconscious attitudes through gamification and facilitates the transition from theory to practice.

She provides training, consulting, and policy development services in the fields of gender equality and cultural diversity to organizations such as TÜSİAD, Mercedes-Benz Türk, Vodafone, Koç Holding, Zorlu Holding, Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Excellence Center, UNFPA, UN Global Compact, Coca-Cola İçecek, Coca-Cola Türkiye, Allianz Türkiye and Türkiye Eğitim Gönüllüleri Vakfı.

Residing in Istanbul and Berlin, Celkan continues to share her work on theater, gender equality, cultural diversity, and inclusive approaches with people in various cities in Turkey, Germany, Austria, the Caucasus region, the Middle East, and North Africa.