2024 was a time of polycrisis, a concept that dominated our lives throughout the year. Disadvantaged groups, especially women, youth, and people with disabilities, were most affected by global crises stemming from climate emergencies, natural disasters, geopolitical tensions, rising inequalities, and poverty.

This landscape worsened the economic and educational challenges faced by disadvantaged groups, making their struggle for equality more urgent than ever. We were reminded once again that philanthropy, which facilitates the strategic and sustainable transfer of resources for social benefit, must adapt to today’s needs and create innovative solutions to complex issues while adhering to its core principles.

Against this backdrop, 2024 was an important year for us. We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Sabancı Foundation, established as an extension of the Sabancı Family’s philanthropic culture, guided by the philosophy of “sharing what we have obtained from this land with its people."

In the first quarter of the year, we began a journey to develop a new strategy that would redefine our vision for the future. We discussed the future at the Strategy Search Conference with local and international philanthropists.

In our second half-century, we will shape our activities with a more measurable and impact-oriented approach, prioritizing “how” over “what.”

We will continue to contribute to social development through activities that create long-term impact in our thematic areas: quality and inclusive education, gender equality, climate change and disasters, and participation in social and cultural life.

The Sabancı Foundation has been the only foundation to provide continuous grant support to NGOs in Türkiye for 18 years. Our grant program, which aims to ensure equal opportunities and active social participation for women, youth, and people with disabilities, has become one of our most powerful tools in contributing to social development. We have directly supported more than 420,000 people to date. Our support for nearly 250 projects has positively impacted 6.8 million people nationwide.

In 2024, we successfully completed the first phase of our Young Women Building Their Future project, which addresses one of the major social issues in our country by focusing on young women who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The project has touched the lives of nearly 6,000 young women over three years and made NEETs more visible in Türkiye while fostering social consciousness. As a result, we began addressing the challenges faced by NEET women as a dimension of social inequalities.

The project’s training and support programs kickstarted the career paths of nearly 800 young women. In collaboration with nearly 1,300 institutions, we increased opportunities for young women by raising awareness about NEET in the private sector, civil society, local governments, and academia. We provided 10,000 hours of training through 100 programs. As a key component of the project, the mentorship program hosted more than 4,000 meetings with the participation of 1,000 mentors and 1,100 mentees across two terms. For every 1 Turkish lira invested in the Young Women Building Their Future project, a social return of 4.14 Turkish lira was generated. Through the project, we created a social value of 45 million Turkish lira annually.

Through our “Changemakers” program, we continued to share the inspiring stories of social change pioneers from across Türkiye. Celebrating its 15th year, the program has received nearly 20,000 applications to date. As of 2024, we have reached 216 “Changemakers” from 47 cities and contributed to social change through their inspiring stories.

We presented awards at the Sabancı Foundation Short Film Competition organized under the slogan “Short Film, Long Impact” to foster awareness of social issues by harnessing the creative perspective and impact of cinema. In the 8th Short Film Competition, we embraced the motto “In Short, We Are Facing a Water Shortage” to highlight the “Water Crisis,” which threatens our planet and represents a major issue in our country. For the ninth edition of the competition, which addresses various social issues through art and calls attention to social challenges, we chose the theme “Climate Migration,” caused by extreme weather events resulting from the impact of climate change. We kept this global issue on the agenda throughout the year with the motto “Film It Before They Immigrate.”

The Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (TUGFO), of which we have been the main sponsor for the past 17 years, gave a total of six performances in 2024 across Türkiye, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. The orchestra performed for audiences in major art centers around the world, including Amsterdam, Venice, and Berlin. On this year’s tour, we were incredibly proud and thrilled to see our young musicians perform at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the most prestigious halls in Europe.

Güler Sabancı

Chair, Board of Trustees