Sowing Season: Experience Sharing Meeting October 1, 2013
Sowing Season: Experience Sharing Meeting October 1, 2013
On October 1, 2013, representatives of 7 NGO’s who completed their projects with support from the Sabanci Foundation Social Development Grant Program convened at a meeting held at Sabanci Center in Istanbul, hosted by the Chair of the Sabanci Foundation Board of Trustees, Ms. Guler Sabanci.
At the Experience Sharing Meeting moderated by Ozlem Gurses, project representatives from the Mother Child Education Foundation, Association of Women with Disabilities, Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work, K. Demirel Youth Association, Women Association of Mus, Community Volunteers Foundation and Flying Broom Association shared their project outcomes, project experiences, plans for the near future as well as the stories of project beneficiaries.
Chair of the Sabanci Foundation Board of Trustees, Ms. Guler Sabanci gave an opening speech stressing the importance of Sowing Season meeting, which is now a tradition that repeats annually. Ms. Sabanci said, “We perform a symbolic unification of the seeds with the soil, we exchange seeds, and we realize an intellectual play ball here. That is why we always get together in the month of October when the seeds meet the soil. We listen to stories of the heroes behind these Sabanci Foundation Social Development Grant Program projects “.
Emphasizing in her speech that in 2006 Sabanci Foundation had adopted the approach of strategic philanthropy that was burgeoning across the world, and had tuned in to social problems and their solutions, Ms. Sabanci remarked: “The first grant program to be effectuated by a private foundation in Turkey, the Sabanci Foundation Grant Program represents a business model that fosters and heartens civil society. It is one of the most efficient means for generating effective solutions for social problems, relieving inequalities, strengthening and diversifying civil society mechanisms, and sustaining the support for social development. One of our foremost goals in social development should be breaking the barriers and the prejudice that loom in our minds”.
Asserting that projects supported by Sabanci Foundation are appreciated across the globe, Ms. Sabanci said, “We receive awards and recognition by international foundations and institutions. We receive invitations to share our experiences, accumulation and the best practices from our country. We leverage the opportunity to showcase to the rest of the world what an impact strategic philanthropy has on Turkey. We strive to introduce to the world the strategic philanthropy work carried out in Turkey and set a model for foundations and private companies attempting at similar methods. We aim at creating more work to set an example for the world, develop new methods of philanthropy, and generate know-how to export to other countries”.
Following the opening speeches, success stories of projects in the Sabanci Foundation Grant Program were shared with participants, public, and the media.
Please click here for the book “Sowing Season Grant Program Stories” which shares the stories of projects implemented with the support of Sabanci Foundation during 2012-2013.
