Rooted in courage. Driven by clarity. Grounded in humanity.

Tuğba Çakılkaya brings over 15 years of cross-sector experience in policy advising, international project leadership, and professional development. But beyond the résumé, Tuğba Çakılkaya is a catalyst for clarity and change — someone who has repeatedly chosen brave new beginnings, taken risks with intention, and built bridges across institutions, sectors, and cultures to drive meaningful progress. Her career began as a teenager participating in EU-funded projects, where she learned to harness communication as a tool for inclusion, innovation, and action. Over time, she became a steering group member and regional coordinator, recruiting and mentoring institutions in complex multi-year initiatives. Her capacity to navigate policy, inspire teams, and translate vision into action has since guided her work with ministries, schools, and international organizations.

As a seasoned teacher trainer and international workshop facilitator, Tugba has delivered professional learning experiences across Europe, the Middle East, and West Asia — working with diverse education systems and gaining deep insight into the cultural dimensions of organizational behaviour. She was invited by ETS Global in Princeton — alongside some of the world’s leading education policy professionals — to be trained as a global facilitator, an experience that shaped her nuanced approach to knowledge brokering and strategic communication. Tuğba Çakılkaya’s unique strength lies in her ability to lead with both empathy and precision. She helps organizations and teams move forward — even in uncertainty — by diagnosing communication barriers, fostering alignment, and crafting strategies that are both actionable and human-centered. “To me, progress is not about pushing harder — it’s about listening deeper, aligning better, and moving together. That’s what I help people do.”