It’s fair to say that fate has played a role in my journey to the Oxford Executive MBA. In this blog, I’d like to tell you a little about my story and how a chance encounter led me to Oxford.
Born and raised in Turkey, I’ve spent many years working as a finance leader for global banks such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank in New York, Dubai and London. I have two adorable children (aged 5 and 3). After the birth of my second daughter, I transitioned from banking to a role more aligned with my life’s purpose – creating impact. I sought a leadership role that would allow me to do impactful work while being present for my children. This shift started my journey into entrepreneurship, seeking purpose and balance.
Balancing career and parenting remains a challenge for many women today. While women often take the lead in childcare, their professional roles rarely accommodate this, and post-motherhood, career advancement frequently suffers. The statistics speak for themselves. Only 10.4% of CEOs in the Fortune Top 500 are women (Fortune 2024).
While early career advancement for women has received some focus, progression at more senior levels remains problematic. Many firms are still reluctant to promote working mums to executive roles, and there’s little practical support or flexibility for female leaders in the workplace.
A transformational journey at Oxford
It was within this context of challenges that I began to think about how I could bring my banking experience, skills and interests to make a difference. My passion for how businesses can create positive societal impact naturally led me to sustainable investing. Believing in the power of capital to shape and enhance our communities and environment, I established my own firm in the impact investing space, working with private equity firms and impact-driven startups. Alongside this, I started dedicating a significant portion of my time to social enterprises and charities focused on female empowerment and climate change.
One day, I received an email from Saïd Business School inviting me to an open day for their Executive MBA program. After studying for three degrees in my teens and 20s, I’d never considered taking another degree at this stage in my life. But I was intrigued.
By pure coincidence, I was due to speak at a conference in Oxford at around the same time. It was as if the stars aligned so I went along to the open day.
What I saw deeply resonated with me. Saïd Business School brings together smart, successful and ambitious people from diverse backgrounds who care about the world and want to lead their businesses with impact.
Sustainability is at the heart of the School’s teaching but there is also a strong emphasis on transformation – two themes that truly spoke to me. It seemed like the perfect program to help me further my career in impact investing and continue my personal transformation.
Saïd Business School brings together smart, successful and ambitious people from diverse backgrounds who care about the world and want to lead their businesses with impact.
The Executive MBA has been one of the most challenging experiences but also one of the most rewarding. It’s a demanding programme that requires putting in the hours and meeting high expectations while striving for excellence. As a mother, it’s been hard juggling work, study and family. I’m fortunate to have a supportive husband and family who’ve helped me during my studies. Running my own business allows me to flex my work schedule for course deadlines and study weeks.
The School also offers a lot of support, including executive coaching. My discussions with my coach, also a working mum, have been invaluable.
Being a good role model to my daughters
As a mum, I find it hard waving goodbye to my girls when I head off to Oxford for my study weeks. But this motivates me to work hard and make every moment count. I also want to be a good role model. My eldest daughter said to me recently, 'I want to be like you when I grow up and study at Oxford'.
I hope to inspire my daughters by demonstrating the importance of hard work, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a lifelong passion for learning. I want them to believe that, with ambition and dedication, nothing is impossible.
Education is at the heart of female empowerment. Growing up in Turkey, I have seen the profound societal impact of educational inequalities. I’ve never taken education for granted. And I am grateful for the opportunity to study at an institution like Oxford.
The Executive MBA has broadened my horizons and networks, and pushed me outside my comfort zone. It’s helping me redefine my role as a woman in business, empowering me to embrace my multiple identities and transform them into opportunities for impact. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by business leaders at Oxford who advocate for closing the gender gap and understand the extra mile women need to run in the executive career race.
The Executive MBA has broadened my horizons and networks, and pushed me outside my comfort zone. It’s helping me redefine my role as a woman in business, empowering me to embrace my multiple identities and transform them into opportunities for impact.
Through this journey, I’m not just seeking personal growth but hope to reshape the narrative for working mothers and aspiring female leaders everywhere. By sharing my experiences, I hope to spark conversations about the realities faced by working mothers in leadership roles and explore how programs like the Oxford Executive MBA can play a part in shaping a more inclusive future.
We are facing existential threats in the world – environmentally and socially. The Executive MBA programme is developing leaders who can make a real contribution to solving pressing issues like access to education, resource scarcity and climate change.
As a mother, I want to raise my children to live in a more equitable and safer world. We can be the change for our generation and for the next. And that gives me a great deal of hope for the future.
