Sema Basol is a global marketing and public relations executive with over 25 years of experience both in the U.S. and Turkey. She has worked with multi-billion dollar corporations, small businesses, start-up ventures, non-profits such as educational and cultural institutions, business executives, government representatives and public figures in both countries. She has launched new businesses and organizations, organized high profile events and executed publicity programs for corporations and individuals.

Sema worked close to 19 years at Mattel Inc. where, as Director of Consumer Products, she built Mattel brands into new businesses that generated annual sales of $300 million in international markets. Under her leadership, sales tripled in the last four years through product launches in new categories and channels as well as through dramatic improvements in quality and design of licensed products.

Over the years, Sema has taken an active role in non-profit organizations, Turkish-American affairs, community organizations and arts. She is currently Program Director for Global Women’s Leadership Network, sponsored by Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

During the last fifteen years, Sema has organized numerous events and fundraisers for U.S. government representatives such as Congressmen Dan Burton, Jim Moody and Stephen Solarz. She has also hosted Turkish diplomats, visiting Turkish business executives and government representatives.

Collaborating with the museum officials and the U.S. organizing committee, Sema coordinated the Southern California fundraising benefit for the Treasures from the Topkapi Exhibit on the West Coast. As the Turkish-American community liaison, Sema had the opportunity to work with the internationally acclaimed theatre, opera and television director Peter Sellars who produced and directed the biennial Los Angeles Festival, a celebration of arts from around the world.

Sema has a B.A. degree from Bogazici University and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School. Her studies in the U.S. were jointly sponsored by U.S. AID and Turkish Educational Foundation. Sema is married to Dr. Bulent Basol and has two sons. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and San Jose, California.

Born in Turkey Nov. 22, 1930. visited the German and St. Benoit French College during the WW II. Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Aachen/Germany. Designer at Brown Boveri/Switzerland. Lt.Eng. in the Turkish Army in Iskenderun 1960-62. Bechtel & Co. in Montreal and J.J.Henry in Philadelphia. U.S. Naval Forces and promotion with Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania. Retired as Prof.Eng.

Member IEEE, American Club of Zurich. A short biography in “Who is Who in Science and Engineering”.

Top Asian award for Aysın Yılmaz

COMMUNITY worker Aysın Yılmaz has won a major award at the glittering annual Asian Women of Achievement Award ceremony in London.

Aysın Yılmaz who has worked tirelessly in the Turkish community for many years, was recognised for her work and was joint recipient of the Social and Humanitarian Award.

The ceremony, held at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel last Thursday (25 May), was attended by women from many different backgrounds, with patron Cherie Booth among those presenting awards to the prize winners.

Aysın Yılmaz was on a shortlist of six and was presented with the Social and Humanitarian Award by Baroness Blackstone and Pakistan High Commissioner Maleeha Lodhi. Joint winner of the Social and Humanitarian award was Celine Samarasinhe.

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Turkish-born, U.S. educated Sel Erder Yackley has added another feat to her long list of accomplishments. Her memoirs “Never Regret the Pain: Loving and Losing a Bipolar Spouse,” is in its second printing by Helm Publishing.

Affectionately known as “Mama Turk” in Chicago for her nurturing nature Sel Erder Yackley was recognized as a Daughter of Ataturk at the turn of the century. Because she has played a leading role in every Turkish cause in the Midwest including the founding of the Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA) in the 1960s, she was honored with a Meritorious Service Award by ATAA in 2002.

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One of the most internationally well known artist and intellectuals, Bedri Baykam was born in 1957, in Ankara, Turkey. His father Dr. Suphi Baykam was a famous deputy in the Turkish parliament and his mother Mutahhar Baykam an architect-engineer. He started to paint when he was only two years old, and has had several exhibitions since the age of six in Bern, Geneva, New York, Washington, London, Rome, Munich, Stockholm, etc. during his childhood years, when he was known as a child prodigy, (wunderkind) throughout the world.He studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris from 1975 to 1980 and got an MBA degree. During this time, he also studied drama in L’Actorat, Paris. He lived in California during the years 1980-1987, studied painting and film-making at the California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland. He had several shows in New York, California and Paris. He returned to Turkey in 1987 and has been living in Istanbul since.

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HARINGEY’S unsung Turkish heroes took to the stage at Alexander Palace last night for the Safer Communities Together Awards, which honoured the contribution to community safety made by individuals and organisations in the borough.

The event was hosted by ITV News at Ten presenter, Sir Trevor McDonald and organised by Haringey Council leader Cllr Charles Adje and executive member for crime and community safety, Cllr Nilgün Canver.

Turkish winners on the night included Önder Karakas from the College of North East London for his work with BRACE, an organisation formed to help overcome the tensions between the college’s Turkish/Kurdish and Afro-Caribbean students; and Turkish Cypriot Sefik Mehmet on behalf of the Haringey Green Lanes Traders’ Association.

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