Limak’s Flagship Social Investment: “ENGINEER GIRLS OF TURKIYE”

We talked about the Engineer Girls of Türkiye in detail with Ebru Özdemir, Chairwoman of the Board of Limak Holding

1-Being a considerably different project, Engineer Girls Of Türkiye(EGT) has made a name for itseld.Could you tell us about this project and the story of its  origin? What was the main push that triggered Limak Holding to start EGT? 

Despite the fact that we implement many projects in thefield of equal opportunity at Limak and Limak Foundation, I can well refer to the EGT as the “flagship” of Limak. We are working with EGT with the purpose of ensuring that more and more young women enter the field of engineering and choose it as a career path. Our aim is not only to train young women engineers who are technically well-equipped. Through EGT, we also aim to raise leading, responsible, sensitive, entrepreneurial, and good people of the future. We are striving to tap into the human capital power and bring that human capital into the ‘new economy’.

We left seven years behind in the project, and currently, we are in the eighth year of our execution. We started the first year with 40 students. Today we have reached over 700 students. Nearly 200 of the girls we provided with support graduated and stepped into their first jobs. This year, we maintain the project with 150 students. Our partners include the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the Ministry of National Education, and also UNDP Türkiye.

We also keep establishing partnerships with a number of institutions, universities, and non-governmental organizations in line with of our fellows of our fellows (such as Boğaziçi University, Wtech Women in Technology Association, EMCC Türkiye, and so on). The content of the program is no need this word diverse as well. For this reason, I do not consider EGT merely as a fellowshipprogram. EGT is much more than a fellowship program. The certificate program, technical training, English language training, mentor interviews, coach interviews, role model meetings and a compulsory social responsibility program are the opportunities we offer to our students. In addition, internships are very significant for engineers. We help them find internships. When they complete their education and graduate, we try to provide them with support on the first steps of their careers.

2- Will the EGT be limited to Türkiye only? Or you target to replicate the project in other Geogrpahies? Whats the future projection for EGT?

“We Bring EGT to the Global Level through Global Engineer Girls” The route for the future is of great importance. We want this Project to expand both in Türkiye, in the region, and around the world, and we wish it to set an example. For the last 2 years, we have been discussing and talking about the “EGT of the future” together with UNDP Türkiye. How can we make EGT a sustainable and independent platform? We are looking for the answer to this question. We have various options available to us. We are making use of them. Besides the institutionalization efforts, we have been recently working on the project so that it assumes global recognition. The goal here is to start ‘sister projects’ in certain countries where we currently operate as Limak. We have already been carrying out Kuwait’s Engineer Girls project in Kuwait since 2018. We decided to do the same in other countries as well.

We started the process with North Macedonia and Kosovo. We would like to add new countries to this portfolio in the future. In mid-January, we announced our new initiative, Global Engineer Girls, at the annual Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Now, besides EGT, we will also strive for the globalization of the project.

3- EGT is just one of the projects you have realized under Limak. From a wider perspective, how do you support womens employment in your company? Could you elaborate on your goals and roadmap in this regard?

“We Wish To Become a Role Model for Our Sector and Our Companies Through the Projects We Implement” Equality of opportunity and women’s employment… I am sensitive to these matters. As a female engineer and female manager, I have always been interested in this issue. I also consider it a personal responsibility. I always strive for keeping this issue on the agenda under Limak. In our announcement of sustainability goals in August 2020, we determined 12 strategic goals. All very important. For me, however, our goal towards women’s employment is especially valuable. By 2026, we wish to increase our female employment rate by 40 per cent within the Group. We aim to do so. We planned a wide range of activities and projects in order to achieve this goal. As you said, EGT is merely one of them.

I believe that there are steps we need to take, both as individuals and as an institution. First of all, we need to act as role models and set an example. Here, I am talking about both individuals and institutions becoming role models. Together with UNDP Türkiye, we implemented the “Gender Equality Seal Programme” under Limak Investment and brought it to a conclusion. Implemented for the first time in Türkiye, this is a project where we aimed to create a gender-sensitive corporate business model. This makes Limak Investment the first and only company, not only in Türkiye but also in the region covered by the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia, to have been awarded a certificate of achievement for completing this program. In the next step, we aim to spread this program to other companies under the Group, and of course, we want to set an example and act as a role model for the private sector in Türkiye.