Selen Kocabaş holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics (taught in English) from Istanbul University and a master’s degree in People Management and Organizational Behavior from Marmara University. She also completed the Corporate Level Strategy program at Harvard Business School Executive Education.
With over 30 years of leadership experience, Selen Kocabaş specializes in business development, strategy, and people management. She began her professional career as a Management Trainee at Koç Group and later held managerial roles at Arçelik, Marshall Boya, and DanoneSA. In 2002, she joined Turkcell and served for 13 years in various executive positions overseeing HR, Procurement, Strategic Planning, IT, Legal, General Administrative Affairs, Marketing, and Sales operations. In 2010, she was appointed as Chief Corporate Business Officer, taking on P&L responsibility and leading marketing, sales, and service operations. She played a pivotal role in transforming Turkcell from a GSM operator into a technology and infrastructure company. Kocabaş left Turkcell in 2015 and continued serving on the boards of various group companies.
Since 2015, Selen Kocabaş has been the Founding Business Partner of Mentoro Platform. She is also an Independent Board Member at Akiş REIT, serving as Chair of the Risk Committee and Member of the Audit Committee. Currently, she is a Board Member at Multinet Up Group and an Advisory Board Member for Aydın Group and English Home.
In her civil society work, she became the first woman to chair the People Management Association of Turkey (PERYÖN), Turkey’s oldest HR association. She is also a corporate member of the Ethics and Reputation Society (TEİD) and serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Corporate Governance Association of Turkey (TKYD), TÜSİAD, Women on Board Association Turkey (WOB Turkey), YenidenBiz Foundation, and Women in Technology Association (Wtech). Additionally, she is a member of the advisory board and a mentor at Endeavor Turkey.
In her personal life, Selen Kocabaş is passionate about mentoring and providing strategic management consultancy. She is married and has a 24-year-old son. She is fluent in English and French.