ATA-NC-Charlotte Executive Committee 2011*

President  Sumru Gokcen
Vice President  Buket Yengulalp
Treasurer  Haluk Telimen
Secretary  Handan Telimen
5th Member  Ilke McAliley

* Executive Committee members also serve on the Board of Directors during their term

ATA-NC-Charlotte Board of Directors 2010-2011

EDIL DEMIREL was born in Ankara and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial Engineering at UNC Charlotte. After graduating from Bilkent University in 2006, Edil moved to the US and earned an MBA from UNC Charlotte. Mr. Demirel enjoys music and is an avid drummer. His other hobbies include reading and sports, and he supports Fenerbahce as his favorite soccer team. He has previous experience serving as vice-president of the Bilkent International Students Club, a position which he held for two years. Edil is also involved in the UNCC Turkish Student Association (TSA), and supports collaboration between ATA-NC Charlotte and UNCC TSA.

RANA KARAKAYA FOX 1994 Eskisehir Anadolu Lisesi, 1999 Bogazici Universitesi (Psikoloji) ve 2001 UNCC (MBA) mezunuyum. * Lise yilllarimda Tiyatro kulubunde yer aldim. Ayrica cesitli halk oyunlari oynadim. Universite hayatimda cesitli kuluplerde gorev aldim. Bunun yaninda, BU Sosyal Bilimler Kulubu'nun kurucu uyeleri arasinda yer aldim. 1999-2001 yillarinda UNCC TSA'da yonetim kurulunda yer aldim, 2000-2001 yilinda baskanligini yaptim. Kizkardesimle beraber BURCIN'in Charlotte Local Leader'ligini yapiyorum. * Su anda ev hanimiyim ve Real Estate Broker lisansim var. * 6 ve 3,5 yasinda iki kizim var.

SUMRU GOKCEN came to America as an exchange student at the age of 16, at which time she lived with an American family in New Jersey and attended school there for a year. She graduated from the University of Istanbul, and holds a masters degree in Education from UNC Charlotte. Mrs. Gokcen taught English as a foreign language in Turkey before coming to the US (Charlotte) in 1981. Once in Charlotte, Sumru became immediately involved in the local community. She served on the advisory board to Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools ESL program from 1981 to 1983. In the 1980's she organized international dinners with International Women's Club in Charlotte. She and her husband are active volunteers with the American Field Service (AFS) and have hosted three exchange students—from Norway, Belguim, and Finland—in the early 1990's. Sumru has been involved in the local Turkish society since the early 1980's, when she helped organize the Turkish booth at UNCC's International festival. Mrs. Gokcen was also a founder of the first Turkish School in Charlotte, and has taught Turkish culture and language classes on Saturday mornings for five years. She is also an active member of the Turkish Book Club. Currently, Sumru works as an ESL teacher at Myers Park High School. She was nominated for the Harris Teacher of the Year Award in 1999 for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

BEKTAS CINAR GULKANAT was born in Ankara and has lived in the United States for six years. Cinar holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, enjoys design work, and likes to cook in his spare time. He has lived in Charlotte for the past four years, and currently resides there with his wife Nazli and son Derin. Mr. Gulkanat has experience in fundraising for the non-profit Bridge to Turkiye Foundation and also for the United Way. He has also been an active member in the Turkish society in Charlotte before the founding of ATA-NC Charlotte, and has helped organize several events in the community. As a board member of ATA-NC Charlotte, he is interested in cultivating a financially sound foundation to further the group's mission, and in supporting the continuous growth of the organization.

OMUR HAFIZOGLU was born in Istanbul. She earned her BS degree in Mathematics. She worked as a mathematics teacher at public and private schools in Turkey. She came to U.S in 2001, helping the community through Adult Education Centers and public schools. She served in TACAGA for 4 years in Atlanta and helped to organize the Children’s Day Celebrations. She likes reading, crafting and spending times with the kids. She is a full time volunteer at her daughter’s schools, tutoring math, preparing art classes, science forces.

SERTAC IREN was born in Istanbul, Turkey. Upon graduation from Istanbul University and receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, he moved to Chicago in 1994. He received his Master’s Degree in from Illinois Institute of Technology. Sertac has over 15 years of experience in financial services industry. After his graduation, he worked for Motorola, LaSalle/ABN-AMRO and KPMG. He is currently working in the Corporate Investments Finance Group of Bank of America. Sertac was an active member of the Turkish community in Chicago including TACA (Turkish American Cultural Alliance) and TADAM (Turkish American Doctors Association of Midwest). He also served as Treasurer in the TACA board for 2 full terms. Sertac has always been proud of his Turkish heritage. Over the years, he has participated in many events aimed to promote awareness of Turkish culture, art, history, and heritage among our communities. He also played an active role in organizing activities to bring together the Turkish-American communities. In addition, Sertac has been heavily involved with his family’s lighting fixtures company, Billur Lighting, Inc. located in Istanbul, Turkey. Sertac’s hobbies include traveling, hiking, swimming, waterskiing, movies, and trying different ethnic cuisines.

BORA REFIK KAZMIRCI currently works as a consultant in sales and marketing. He holds a B.A. in business from Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir, Turkey. Born in San Fransisco, Mr. Kazmirci lived in the United States until the age of 13, at which point he moved to Turkey. In 1986 he returned to the US. He then moved to Charlotte in 1996, and currently resides there with his wife Jacqueline and daughter Katelyn Yasemin. Bora enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, playing water polo, swimming, sailing, and smoking cigars. He is a fan of Galatasaray in soccer, and supports our local Carolina Panthers in American football. Mr. Kazmirci has a history of service in the local community, where he has served on the citizens Aquatics Advisory board for Mecklenberg County Parks and Recreation, coached water polo and youth basketball, and volunteered for Christmas in April, the International House, and Meridian House International. Within the Turkish community, Bora routinely participates in events as emcee. As a member of our board of directors, Mr. Kazmirci sees it as his personal mission to introduce and increase awareness to the American people of Turkey's existence, its historical and contemporary contributions to the world, as well as its position in the world today.

ILKE ERDOGAN MCALILEY is an Environmental Engineer, holding an MSc from Clemson University and a B.S. from Marmara University. Born in Istanbul, Ilke has been in the US since 2000 and in Charlotte since 2006. Her hobbies include reading, cooking, baking, blogging at www.ilkeskitchen.com, and renovating her old house. She has been involved in non-for-profit activities with Water For People since 2006, and currently serves as chair of the NC Water For People Committee. Through Water For People, she participated in clean water and sanitation projects in Bolivia and organized fundraising activities such as golf tournaments, 5K runs, silent auctions, and raffle drawings. Ilke has been involved in Turkish cultural organizations in Clemson and Charlotte, and has served as chair of the Turkish Student Association in Clemson University.

ERTUNGA CEM OZELKAN is an Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management and the Associate Director of the Center for Lean Logistics and Engineered Systems at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Ozelkan is the faculty advisor for the Turkic Society & Children, and has been serving as the Charlotte Director for Bridge to Turkiye Fund. He has been working at the Charlotte Turkish School for the past 4 years, teaching kids music and arts. He has established and led the Turkish Rhythm Choir for the past 3 years. He has volunteered in numerous Turkish social and fundraiser events, and has also taken a leading role for several of these events over the past years, helping to conduct some of the largest Turkish Nights & Festivals in Charlotte thus far. He believes that when we collaborate we can accomplish even bigger activities under ATA-NC Charlotte that will make all of us proud. During his graduate studies, Dr. Ozelkan co-founded the Turkish Student Association at the University of Arizona, where he served as the Vice President and the President. He has received the Tucson Mayor's Award for contributions in cultural exchange. Dr. Ozelkan has been also serving for national professional societies at different levels. He is currently a board member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers' Lean Division and the chair of the American Society for Engineering Education Society's Engineering Management Division. In his free time, Dr. Ozelkan enjoys playing volleyball, running, playing guitar, singing, learning languages, and spending time with his family and friends.

OKAN PALA came to the United States in January 2000 to pursue a masters degree at North Carolina State University. After completing his degree, he worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency as a Lockheed Martin and Computer Science Corporation employee. In 2005 he moved to Charlotte to start his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Software and Information Systems at UNC Charlotte. Okan Pala has served as the President of the 49er Social & Ballroom Dance Club at UNC Charlotte for three consecutive years. In 2006, he was awarded the "Outstanding Student Organization Leader" title among 250 student organization leaders. Meanwhile, he has served as Vice President of the Turkish Student Organization at UNC Charlotte and founded the Turkic Society and Children organization, which works to raise awareness of children issues in Turkey and raise funds to help under served children in Turkey. In addition, this group works to help Turkish students at UNCC get adjusted to local culture and get introduced to local Turkish community. Okan is married to Tiffany Barnes, and is the proud father of their son Ender. He enjoys serving the great Turkish community of Charlotte.

HALUK TELIMEN, born in Izmir and raised in Istanbul, came to U.S in 1974 and to Charlotte in 1978. He earned his BS degree in Business Administration and Mathematics in 1976 and an MBA degree in Finance in 1978 from UNC Greensboro. He has participated as a volunteer at many Turkish events in Charlotte, such as the I Fest at UNCC, Turkish picnics, fundraisers for the BTF, and lastly at the first Turkish Festival of Charlotte. He is a member of the Turkish Rhythm Choir and took stage with the group in and outside Charlotte at the Turkish events. He is retired from the Wachovia Securities after 29 years of service and is currently working on project based jobs with a local firm. Haluk is looking forward to serve as Treasurer to manage the financial affairs of ATA-NC Charlotte, to increase the members of the organization and to promote the visibility of the diverse and colorful Turkish culture. His interests include investing, tennis, travelling and soccer. He is married and has a fourteen year old daughter.

HANDAN TELIMEN moved to Charlotte in 1984 from Istanbul, Turkey. She is a graduate of TED Ankara Koleji and Bosphorus University. She received her Master in Education degree from UNCC. She has worked as an ESL teacher at CPCC for over twenty years. She is married and has a thirteen year old daughter. She has been very active in the Turkish community since she moved to Charlotte organizing events such as picnics, holiday parties, and fundraisers. She has participated at the International Festivals at UNCC and CPCC representing Turkey for many years. Along with her friends, she established the Charlotte Turkish School and taught there as a parent/teacher for three years. She also started the Turkish Book Club in Charlotte six years ago, and the members of the club have so far read and discussed over 60 Turkish books. She served for four years as the Charlotte Director of BTF (Bridge to Turkiye Fund) and helped in raising money to establish ten libraries for needy schools in the rural areas of Turkey. She served as a Board Member of ATA-NC for two years.(2002-2004) She has received "The Excellence in Teaching Award" from CPCC (1989) and "The Woman of Distinction Award" from The Daughters of Ataturk (2005). Among her interests are traveling, reading, photography and music.

ALI TURKSONMEZ is a registered architect with the T.C. Chamber of Architects in Izmir. He has been involved in the Turkish society in the Charlotte area for many years, and has been a supporter and contributor to the group's activities. As a board member, Mr. Turkosonmez is dedicated to serving ATA-NC Charlotte in any capacity needed.

BUKET YENGULALP 1949 Istanbul dogumluyum. Istanbul Universitesi Iktisat Fakultesi Isletme-Istatistik mezunuyum. Muhtelif Banka ve Finansal kurumlarda 35 yil calisip emekli oldum. 2 yil Polonyada ozel bir projede calistim. 2002 yilindan beri Amerikadayim. Evliyim ve iki oglum var. Halen bir sirkette operasyon muduru olarak calismaktayim.