Hasan Oğuzhan Aytaç
General Coordinator
hasanoguzhan.aytac@go-for.org
He was born in Ankara in 1994 and studied Philosophy at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He has many years of experience in the field of youth rights, working with civil society organizations and as an expert. Alongside his role at GoFor, he serves as a co-representative for Türkiye at the European Youth Forum.
Barış Azar
Finance and Administration Manager
baris.azar@go-for.org
He was born in Izmir in 1995. After completing his undergraduate degree in Art History at Ege University, he continued his education in the Women’s Studies Master’s program at Dokuz Eylül University. Since 2012, he has been actively involved in student and youth organizing in Izmir. He carried out work within the Konak City Council and the Izmir City Council. Between 2014 and 2019, he was part of the İzmir Pride Committee. In 2016, he was among the founders of the Genç LGBTI+ Association. From 2019 to 2021, he worked at Genç LGBTI+ as a Project Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator. In 2022 and 2023, he worked as the Finance and Administrative Affairs Coordinator at the Kırmızı Şemsiye Association.
Erkan Çıvak
Communications and Media Coordinator
erkan.civak@go-for.org
He was born in Istanbul in 1996. He completed her undergraduate degree in Statistics at Ege University with honors. Since 2014, he has contributed to different advocacy efforts in the area of LGBTI+ rights. He volunteered for two years in the Sustainable Development Goals and Youth Rights Project. Throughout his university years, he worked on different projects in the fields of communication and design. Drawing on this experience, he began working as Communications Coordinator at the Social Policy, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association in 2021. During his two year tenure, he took part in the “Türkiye Buna Hazır” communication campaign, which received the SES Women of the Year Award.
Cansu Ceylan
Organizational Support Coordinator
cansu.ceylan@go-for.org
She completed her degree in Sociology at Boğaziçi University in 2020. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as an editor and writer for Genç Hayat, the youth supplement of Evrensel newspaper. At the same time, she completed an internship at the Education Reform Initiative. In 2021, she worked as a field assistant on the research project “Violence Against Women: Women’s Experiences, Institutions, and Spaces,” conducted by Dissensus Research in collaboration with the Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation.She completed her master’s thesis in the Cultural Studies Program at Sabancı University in 2023, titled “Different Faces of Breakdown: Young Women’s Experiences of Uncertainty and Narratives of Future(lessness). In her thesis, she focused on young women’s everyday experiences of neoliberal uncertainty, their narratives of future and futurelessness, emotions, and coping strategies within the context of increasing social violence and deepening economic crisis in Turkiye.
Cansu Ceylan
Organizational Support Coordinator
sena.cakir@go-for.org
She graduated from the Political Science and International Relations programme at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Political Sciences in 2018 and is currently pursuing her PhD in the same department. Since 2016, she has taken on various volunteer and professional roles in civil society, gaining experience in project development, budget management, grant processes, and financial reporting through her work with civil society organisations, public institutions such as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), and international organisations. As part of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), she spent a year volunteering in Spain’s Basque Country, where she worked on international youth projects while also developing and implementing an Erasmus+ project bringing together Basque and Kurdish women’s cooperatives.
Celal Can Bilgiç
Global Affairs and Policy Coordinator
celalcan.bilgic@go-for.org
He completed his undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Relations at Middle East Technical University in 2020, graduating with honors. This was followed by a master’s degree in International Development at the London School of Economics, which he completed in 2021 with high distinction. During this period, his research focused on the intersections between activism and social movements, and the pursuit of fair and sustainable progressive change in economic, political, and social development. He also worked as a Research Intern at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Drawing on his academic background, he began to take part in work that translates knowledge into practice and creates positive outcomes.
Kağan Kıraç
Grant Coordinator
kagan.kirac@go-for.org
Born in Ankara in 1992, he graduated from Pamukkale University with a degree in English Economics. He began his career in civil society as a Finance Assistant at the Sivil Düşün Programme. At the Journalists Association of Türkiye, he worked on the Media for Democracy / Democracy for Media project, first as Finance Manager and then as Third-Party Financial Support Specialist. He also worked as a Grant Specialist on the Young Journalists Training Camps and Media Freedom Support projects. He actively contributed to numerous projects supported by various sources, including Matra, Norway and the Embassy of Ireland. He has over eight years of experience in grant and financial management for European Union-funded projects and has contributed to the implementation and successful completion of more than one hundred sub-grants.
Rojda Öncel
Association Officer
rojda.oncel@go-for.org
She completed her degree in Psychological Counseling and Guidance at Mersin University with honors. Since 2017, she has been engaged in rights based advocacy within civil society organizations. She has been volunteering with Pembe Hayat KuirFest since 2018. She completed a volunteer internship at the Kırmızı Şemsiye Association in 2020 and has been continuing her volunteer work at Alikev since 2021. She began working at the Sağlıkta Genç Yaklaşımlar Association as an Administrative Assistant and later continued her role as Center Coordinator at the Hatay Youth Center. She currently serves as a board member of the same association. Alongside this, she carries out work in the field of mental health, with a focus on migration, grief, and trauma.
Melis Asya Bozali
Legal Support Officer
melisasya.bozali@go-for.org
Born in Istanbul in 2000, she graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University’s Faculty of Law in 2022 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Local Governments at Istanbul University. She has been practising law since 2024. Alongside her legal career, she has long been actively involved in youth work and international relations, taking on various roles in national and international youth organisations. She currently serves as Coordinator of the Democracy and Countering the Far Right Network within Young European Socialists (YES), Coordinator of the Peace Network within the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), and Mediterranean Coordinator within the MENA Latina Network. Her work focuses on youth participation, democracy, human rights, and local governance.
Gözde Erar
Finance Officer
gozde.erar@go-for.org
She studied Mathematics at Ege University and Preschool Education at Istanbul Aydın University. She carried out volunteer work with various civil society organizations. She then began working professionally in the civil society sector through the ILO’s efforts to prevent child labour in agriculture. She has played an active role in initiatives with young people, women and children in the fields of human rights, children’s rights, and business and human rights. Combining her civil society experience with expertise in programme and project financing, she is involved in training, capacity building and consultancy within the scope of Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD). She also continues to collaborate with various think tanks.
Duygu Sedef
Communications Assistant
duygu.sedef@go-for.org
She was born in Ankara in 1999. She completed her undergraduate studies in Communication and Politics at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. During her university years, she served as Vice President of the Turkish Society and as Communications Officer for the Student Sustainability Board. She worked on digital media, youth participation, sustainability, and equality based communication. Through her volunteer work with Oxfam and her participation in the Youth Station Fellowship program, she gained experience in the fields of social justice, youth rights, sustainability, and civic engagement.