Our foundation president

Samed Ağırbaş was born in 1994 in the Fatih district of Istanbul and graduated from Kadırga Industrial Vocational High School and completed his undergraduate education in Architecture and Urban Planning. He completed his master's degree in Business Administration and Finance at Mississippi State University. He is currently continuing his doctoral studies at the University of Massachusetts.

Actively involved in many national and international civil society organizations since the age of 15, Ağırbaş has contributed to youth activities as a founder, president and member. He served as a member of the Volunteering Program Field Coordination Team of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency in the 2010 European Capital of Culture events.

In 2011, while he was a student at Kadırga Industrial Vocational High School, he pioneered the establishment of a youth group called “High School Entrepreneurs Club” and ensured the establishment of entrepreneurship clubs in every high school in Istanbul in accordance with the protocol signed with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education. In the following period, the project in question was implemented throughout Turkey by the Ministry of National Education. Today, there are more than 3,000 Entrepreneurship Clubs in high schools throughout Turkey.

Ağırbaş, who was elected as the President of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly in 2014, also assumed the roles of President of the Union of Turkish Municipalities Youth Assembly and the World Humanitarian Summit Youth Working Group. He coordinated the official Youth Forum of the World Humanitarian Summit and led the development of action plans on the role of young people in humanitarian aid.

Ağırbaş, who participated in the 2nd Habitat Summit organized by the United Nations as the only Turkish young speaker, has also taken part as a speaker and moderator in many international organizations such as the UN, OECD and the European Union. He has also worked on climate change, environment, zero waste and urbanism at the United Nations and has led various projects in these areas.

Ağırbaş, who has been deemed worthy of many national and international awards for his work in the fields of youth, entrepreneurship and education, has written the books Gece Gündüz İstanbul (Night and Day Istanbul) and Sanatın Serüveni published in Turkish and English, as well as the academic study titled Osmanlı Mimarinde Tezyinat (Works of Mimar Sinan). In addition, he has various articles on zero waste, climate change and urbanism. Many of his articles on urbanism, culture and art, and his photographs of Istanbul are published on the nightanddayistanbul.com website.

Having served as Special Advisor to the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) and UN-HABITAT Eastern Europe and Central Asia Advisor, Ağırbaş ensured coordination of relations between UN member countries and UN agencies during his term and also led various projects. He continues his active duty at the United Nations.

Currently acting as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of the Zero Waste Foundation, Ağırbaş, who acts with the desire to be a visionary at national and international levels with sustainability, environment and youth works, speaks advanced level English and beginner level Portuguese.