The British Council tells the inspiring stories of 80 women to mark its 80th Anniversary in Turkey.

The British Council has been working in Turkey continuously since 1940 bringing international opportunities to life every day. In its 80th Anniversary, the British Council shares the stories of 80 women whose paths have crossed with the British Council in the past 80 years.

The six-weeks crowdsourcing campaign was run to gather more than 100 stories across 15 cities and six decades in June 2020. 80 stories were selected to represent wide range of ages, activities, and location.

The British Council believes that gender equality and women’s empowerment are crucial to creating inclusive, open, and prosperous societies and wants to celebrate women and girls by highlighting their achievements as WOW İstanbul Festival 2021 is approaching.

Cherry Gough, Director Turkey British Council said: “I want to thank all those women who shared their fascinating stories, whether they’re included here or not. I was astonished to see the diversity of women our paths have crossed. There are social and creative entrepreneurs, researchers, arts and culture professionals, English language teachers, UK alumni, learners of English, arts lovers and many more...I hope they all enjoyed remembering the time they crossed paths with the British Council, as much as we enjoyed hearing about it!”

'Crossing paths: 80 years of changing lives' digital project has been developed to celebrate and widely share the inspiring stories of 80 women. Their experiences about how opportunities to learn, share, travel and collaborate in Education, the Arts, and the English language have shaped them personally and professionally can be read on the British Council’s website and social media channels.

Let’s celebrate women who turned the British Council’s anniversary into a unique experience! The stories can be accessed on https://www.britishcouncil.org.tr/about/80years-80women website.