Sabancı honored by leadership award

ISTANBUL

Güler Sabancı (R) and Peggy Dulany pose at the award ceremony.

Sabancı Foundation Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Güler Sabancı, has been honored with the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, which is presented to the leaders who work for social development.

“Named after leading businessman and philanthropist David Rockefeller, this award was presented to Güler Sabancı for her leadership and impactful contributions to philanthropy,” the foundation announced in a written statement yesterday. The award ceremony was held on Oct. 8 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Güler Sabancı is a model for all leaders in business and philanthropy, not only in Turkey but around the world. She is deeply engaged in what the Sabancı Foundation and Sabancı University do and highly articulate about the rationale for choosing each strategy,” the daughter of David Rockefeller, Peggy Dulany, said during the ceremony.

Güler Sabancı, the chairwoman of Turkish conglomerate Sabancı Holding, said, “This award was granted for my family’s dedicated efforts to promote equality and social development for almost 40 years. Being recognized by a family whose philanthropy goes back to 150 years ago is an honor for me”. Sabancı also said, “As Sabancı Foundation, we had the opportunity to champion women’s and girls’ rights and equal participation in society, but I must say, we still have a long way to go. We should support women’s role in society, not only in Turkey but around the world. The world will be a better place if we persevere in improving their participation and contribution to business and society”.

The David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award is presented by Synergos Institute, founded and chaired by Dr. Dulany, the daughter of Rockefeller. Past recipients of this award include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former South African President Nelson Mandela, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates.