Akçar (Turkey) is Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work (FSWW), an Ashoka fellow, and a Steering Committee member of an international partnership body named the Huairou Commission, where she monitors the United Nations Habitat II implementations using a gender lens. FSWW was established in 1986 to bring grassroots women’s issues and contributions to the forefront. As Executive Director and Board Member, Akçar works in close collaboration with grassroots groups to develop and coordinate FSWW capacity building, business, childcare, and childhood education programs. Prior to her work at FSWW, she worked on a municipal housing project focused on low-income urban dwellers. She is a civil engineer and holds an M.A. in Public Administration from the Bosphorus University in Turkey.