Arifé Yildiz is a consulting director with Syntagme, where she has worked since January 2021. She graduated with a master's in German and European law from the Humboldt Universität in Berlin and began her career as a legal counsel in public and European law. She worked in international environments in Germany, Belgium and France, which led her to develop a strong network in the institutional and private sectors.

Arifé previously worked with the PR firm Allison+Partners as a media relations and public affairs consultant, where she advised clients from the industrial, environmental and real-estate sectors. She coordinated the European outreach campaign of the Zayed Prize, the first international prize in renewable energies (total of US$3 million).

She is actively engaged in European projects with the President's youth movement (Les jeunes avec Macron), such as the coordination of the Our Sustainable Europe project gathering 17 pro-European youth movements. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Women Leading the Game - WLG

This project provided a space for young female athletes to engage with professional athletes and share about the issues they encounter in pursuing sports careers. Following a series of nine virtual and in-person discussions, recommendations were made for best practices that can be adopted to improve the environment for girls and young women pursuing athletic careers. Leaflets were produced in both English and French with recommendations about how to improve the landscape of sports for girls and young women, which were distributed to local and international stakeholders in the sports industry.

WLG Video English Version  WLG Video French Version

"[The athletes we met with] talk about helping each other: it's become a major focus for us in our team, so before a game we try to remind ourselves what the professional told us 2-3 days before and that gives us the drive and the desire to succeed." - Project Participant

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Arifé participated in the IVLP Project Current U.S. Social, Political, and Economic Issues for Young European Leaders III, organized by the U.S. Department of State and Cultural Vistas.

Arifé's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "My IVLP experience was an amazing experience which strengthened my motivation to be a real change-maker, to be a leader, and to inspire girls to make a change and not suffer from discrimination."

U.S. Communities Visited

Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Washington, DC; Orlando, FL

Country: France 

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