Istanbul, Turkey -- The BILGI Young Social Entrepreneurs Awards program was officially launched at a ceremony at the Modern Arts Museum on Bilgi University’s Santral Campus.  Each year, the program will provide ten young leaders in Turkey with training, networking, and advocacy opportunities, along with financial support to strengthen their social change work.

The program is the result of a dynamic partnership between İstanbul Bilgi University, Laureate International Universities, the International Youth Foundation (IYF), and the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) - four organizations committed to supporting social development projects led by Turkish youth.

The BILGI Young Social Entrepreneurs Awards is the Turkey-based program of IYF’s global youth leadership initiative, YouthActionNet®.  “Today’s young leaders are developing innovative solutions to a host of urgent local – and global – challenges,” said IYF President and CEO William Reese. “Through supporting their efforts, the BILGI Young Social Entrepreneurs Awards represent a critical investment in an emerging generation of talented young leaders in Turkey. We look forward to welcoming the first class of BILGI Fellows into a vibrant global network, which includes programs operating on Laureate International Universities campuses in Mexico, Brazil, and Spain.”

“Since its founding in 1996, İstanbul Bilgi University has accomplished many social responsibility projects, particularly in the districts of its campuses,” said Prof. Dr. Halil Güven, Rector of İstanbul Bilgi University. “The BILGI Young Social Entrepreneurs Awards carries our social responsibility endeavors to an international platform, and underscores the importance of nurturing social entrepreneurship among our nation’s young people.” Added Douglas L. Becker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Laureate Education, Inc. and Chair of the International Youth Foundation, “We are extremely proud that İstanbul Bilgi University has joined the growing group of Laureate institutions to adapt and launch the YouthActionNet® program on their campuses.”

The BILGI Young Social Entrepreneurs Awards seek to strengthen, support, and celebrate youth, ages 18 to 29, who have developed innovative solutions to community challenges in Turkey. Given its national volunteer network and youth development expertise, the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey will play a critical role in the recruitment and selection of award recipients. The ten awardees selected annually will receive:

•    A $3,500 award for their organization and/or project;
•    A customized training workshop focused on enhancing their leadership and     entrepreneurship skills;
•    Mentoring and technical support for their project; and
•    Connection to a national network of young leaders affecting positive change.

The deadline for youth to apply is November 15, 2010, with final selection of the 2010 fellows announced in January/February 2011.

Further information, please visit www.bilgiggo.com or contact Serdar Apaydin at email: serdar.apaydin@bilgi.edu.tr ;tel: +90-212-3116152.

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About Istanbul Bilgi University
Founded in 1996, Istanbul Bilgi University seeks to make a difference in the university life of Turkey, particularly through offering its students the international development opportunities. It is the only member in Turkey of the Laureate International Universities network. Istanbul Bilgi University has an academic staff of nearly 800, more than 10,000 students and 12,500 graduates. Having established the Faculty of Architecture and Engineering in addition to the faculties of Communication, Law, Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Arts and Sciences, BILGI offers more than 60 associate and undergraduate degree programs in 6 faculties, 4 professional and 2 vocational schools in the academic year of 2010-2011. İstanbul Bilgi University has three campuses, Santral, Dolapdere and Kuştepe, located in central parts of Istanbul.

About Laureate International Universities
Laureate International Universities is a global network of more than 50 accredited campus-based and online institutions of higher education offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs to nearly 600,000 students around the world. Laureate International Universities students are part of an international, academic community that spans 21 countries and more than 100 campuses throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Laureate International Universities offer more than 130 career-focused, undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in fields including architecture, art, business, culinary arts, design, education, engineering, health sciences, hospitality, information technology, law and medicine. For more information, visit www.laureate.net.

About Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV)
Educational Volunteers aims to provide educational support to primary education students by offering diversified curricular and extracurricular educational activities as well as the opportunity of benefiting from contemporary educational facilities. The foundation conducts its educational support services addressing our children on 11 Education Parks, 55 Learning Units, 19 Firefly Mobile Learning Units and 1 City Representative Office across Turkey. Since its foundation, Educational Volunteers has provided educational support to more than one million children with the support of its thousands of volunteers. Having attracted the attention of international institutions with its distinctive educational model, the Educational Volunteers collaborates with the International Youth Foundation since 2003.

About International Youth Foundation
The International Youth Foundation (IYF) invests in the extraordinary potential of young people.  Founded in 1990, IYF builds and maintains a worldwide community of businesses, governments, and civil society organizations committed to empowering youth to be healthy, productive, and engaged citizens.  IYF programs are catalysts for change that help young people obtain a quality education, gain employability skills, make healthy choices, and improve their communities.  To learn more, visit www.iyfnet.org.

Media Contact:    
Eray Çoşan
Marjinal Porter Novelli       
0212 219 29 71
erayc@marjinal.com.tr