With the appointment of three new women members to its Board of Directors, Akbank now counts four women on the Board, surpassing the averages of both the BIST 30 and the Banking Index. By reaching 40% women’s representation on the Board, the Bank has achieved its target of at least 30% by the end of 2027 ahead of schedule and exceeded its own commitment.
Strengthening its corporate governance on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Akbank has once again demonstrated its pioneering role in Turkey and its determination to rank among the world’s leading financial institutions in terms of women’s representation on board. The new women joining Akbank’s Board of Directors are Serra Akçaoğlu, Tülin Erdem, and Zeynep Uras.
In her statement, Akbank Chairman Suzan Sabancı told: “At Akbank, strong governance is built on a diversity of perspectives. That is why we are committed to ensuring women are equally and powerfully represented in leadership. The addition of three new women members to our Board strengthens our decision-making and brings fresh insights to the Bank. We are proud to welcome these highly qualified leaders and to position our Board’s women’s representation above global standards. We congratulate our new members and look forward to working closely with them.”
Serra Akçaoğlu:
Serra Akçaoğlu has extensive experience in international, corporate and commercial banking. Between January 2020 and September 2025, she served as Regional Head responsible for subsidiaries of Global Multinational Corporates within Corporate and Commercial Banking at Citigroup in London. During this period Akçaoğlu also represented Citigroup in the Association of Foreign Banks as a Board Member in London. Until December 2019, Akçaoğlu held the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Citibank A.Ş., and was also responsible for Citi’s corporate banking activities across 60 countries in the EMEA region where the bank has no physical presence. Previously, she served as Head of Consumer and Commercial Banking at Citibank A.Ş. She also worked in London within Global Transaction Services as Regional Head of EMEA Trade Products, where between 2005 and 2007 she led trade finance activities, regional product strategy, new product development, and product positioning across 50 countries in the EMEA region. Akçaoğlu joined Citi in 2000 and, prior to that, held various senior management positions at Manufacturers Hanover Bank, Chemical Bank and Koçbank. She holds a degree in Administrative Sciences from Boğaziçi University.
Tülin Erdem:
Tülin Erdem holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics and a PhD in Business Administration. She has over 30 years of experience as a faculty member at business schools. Throughout her academic career, she has held the titles of tenured professor, endowed chair and full professor. Her research focuses on decision-making processes, including financial decision-making, as well as decision-making under uncertainty and risk. Tülin Erdem has served as Chair of the Marketing Department at both UC Berkeley and New York University, and also held the position of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Berkeley. Erdem has acted as an expert witness in numerous cases before U.S. courts, providing expert reports and participating in hearings on matters including consumer protection, intellectual property rights, competition law, trademark infringement, deceptive advertising and sales practices, and reputational harm. In this capacity, she has been involved in high-profile cases concerning global corporations such as Apple–Samsung, as well as privacy-related cases involving major technology companies including Google and Amazon. In addition, she has prepared reports for U.S. public authorities such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on consumer protection, privacy, and consumer finance. Between 2014 and 2017, she served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University. Having completed her bachelor’s degree in Economics with honors at Boğaziçi University, Erdem completed her master’s studies and doctoral coursework (ABD) in Economics at the University of Alberta, and earned her PhD in Business Administration from the same University.
Zeynep Uras:
Zeynep Uras holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Boğaziçi University. In 1986, she began her career at the Istanbul office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 1997, she was admitted to the PwC global partnership and retired from the firm as of June 2024. Throughout her 38-year career at PwC, she held leadership roles in Türkiye and across the firm’s global organization. In 1996, she worked in the Banking Practice of PwC’s London office and subsequently assumed responsibility for the Banking Practice of PwC Azerbaijan until 2001. Between 2001 and 2012, Uras served as Audit Services Leader at PwC Türkiye and held the Territory Board Membership position during this period. From 2013 to 2020, she served as Financial Services Sector Leader as well as Client and Industry Groups Leader at PwC Türkiye, and also held a Board Membership position at the PwC European Industry Groups. Throughout her career, she worked primarily across the financial services and banking sectors, leading audit engagements, special-purpose reviews, acquisitions and initial public offering projects. She led audit and advisory engagements for leading financial institutions. In her roles, she played an active part in managing relationships with Public Oversight Authority (POA), Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) and Capital Markets Board (CMB) of Türkiye. Uras has extensive experience in accounting and auditing standards, financial risk management, IPO processes, and information systems audits.