Efe has seven years of professional experience and almost ten years of volunteer experience in civil society. After finalizing his AFS year in Wisconsin in 2004, he started as a volunteer in community based activities in Istanbul, Turkey. As a graduate of Psychology, Bilkent University in 2010, he took civil society field as a profession and worked both in the field and in providing operational support with UN-FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations), AFS (American Field Service) Turkey, Violence Stories in Turkey with CRA (Cross Cultural Research Association), LGBT and Human Rights with SPoD (Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association) and KAOS GL, and Refugee and Asylum Seekers Rights with MdM (Medecins du Monde). As his primary interest in Human and LGBTQ Rights, he has prioritized a gender-based advocacy in the institutions and projects he has worked for. In 2015, he founded Harup, a project space that combines LGBTQ advocacy and arts as a medium. He has worked with several national and international media platforms where his writings and interviews were published. His intention is to be able to combine his passion for arts and culture and human and LGBTQ rights in order to work closely with different advocacy methods while keeping ties with local and global community.
Host Organization: Human Rights Campaign
Fellow Role at Host Organization: Efe will be a member of the HRC’s Global Office assisting with assignments to support programs in HRC Global and the HRC Foundation.