TürkTraktör Hosts 'DEI Awareness Day'
A pioneer in gender equality efforts in its industry, TürkTraktör hosted a 'DEI Awareness Day' program focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the business world. The event, held at TürkTraktör's Ankara Factory, featured panels and speeches by experts in their fields.
Delivering the opening speech at the event, TürkTraktör Company Leader Matthieu Séjourné said, "At TürkTraktör, we firmly believe that fostering diverse voices, perspectives and equal opportunities is pivotal for achieving sustainable success. For over 70 years, we have operated with these values at the core of our corporate identity, seeing them not only as a commitment but also as a source of strength. We recognize that we’re all responsible for cultivating awareness and fostering actions related to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). As such, we prioritize improving the physical and social conditions impacting our colleagues with special needs ; we continuously increase the influence of our women employees in the company’s decision-making processes, and we take great pride in seeing gender-equal team structures with diverse age groups within our company. We operate with a similar perspective not only within our internal structure but also in our spheres of influence. In this regard, we aimed to improve the technological literacy of young women and nurture the talents of tomorrow through our Miracles of Sprouts Technology and Innovation project, which we launched in recent years. Because we believe that establishing a stronger presence for women in technology and innovation will contribute to a stronger business world.”
TürkTraktör People, Culture & Transformation Leader Ceren Ertem Çimen provided an overview of the company’s DEI initiatives, saying, “At TürkTraktör, we believe a diverse workforce with different backgrounds, experiences, values, ages, genders and physical abilities makes us stronger and more creative. With this in mind, we established our DEI team last year on a voluntary basis. Operating with the motto ‘Change Starts with Awareness’, the team has been raising awareness within the company through initiatives such as videos for our employees with disabilities, promoting the use of sign language and organizing events for female leaders and families. Our education efforts extend beyond our employees to also include external stakeholders. Since 2016, we’ve been running a project called ‘Miracles of Sprouts’ within the scope of the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles. Thanks to this project, which we have focused on female students, female employees and female farmers, we have increased the ratio of female employees in the field to around 10%. We’ve also provided scholarships to over 300 students, and in 2022, with the launch of “Miracles of Sprouts: Technology and Innovation” project in the STEM field, we’ve contributed to the professional development of more than 4,000 girl students.”
Experts Shared Their Knowledge and Experience
The first part of the 'DEI Awareness Day' featured a special session for International Women's Day, where Koç Holding Digital Transformation and Information Technologies Coordinator and Vice Chairman of the Board of Women in Technology Association Hayriye Karadeniz, Founding President of Women in Technology Association Zehra Öney and TürkTraktör People, Culture & Transformation Leader Ceren Ertem Çimen, along with Industrial Relations and People Operations Product Owner Pınar Işık Yılmaz as the moderator, shared their insights and experiences in the 'Inspiring Women Leaders Panel'.
Following the special session, Pınar Akçayöz De Neve from UN Women Türkiye Private Sector Partnerships,who delivered a speech titled 'Equality in All Areas for All Women and Girls',followed by Dr. Duygu Beste Başer Özcan from Hacettepe University, who gave a speech titled 'DEI Awareness: Societal Gender, Disabilities and Diversity', and Arzu Pınar Demirel from Headline Diversity, who gave a speech titled 'Neurodiversity and Inclusion'.
In the final session of the program, Ford Otosan Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Product LeaderZülal Çalışkan, Garanti BBVA Diversity and Inclusion Discipline LeaderÖykü Kayaalp and Schneider Electric Human Resources ManagerEzgi Feda discussed DEI practices in the business world.
