Member of the Executive Steering Committee, Head of Finance and Human Resources
Hakan Atalay
Member of the Executive Steering Committee
Head of Finance and Human Resources
I am an industrial engineer with relevant professional experience in the fields of finance and project management. I am specialised in process development and optimisation as well as process and data analysis.
Since I completed my master's degree in social sciences in 2019, I have been a permanent part of the foundation and implement projects at national and European level. Thereby, the fight against disinformation and hate speech on the net is especially close to my heart. I love working with different people from young to old and empowering them according to their individual skills and preferences. With my work, I want to support them in participating in (digital) society in a media-competent, critically-reflective and creative way and in actively shaping it.
Using the potential of digital media to create stimulating places for lifelong learning together with different people is my mission. In doing so people and their individual needs are always at the center of my work.
I am convinced that promoting digital media literacy contributes to strengthening a democratic Europe. Therefore, I have been working at the Foundation since 2013 in the area of adult education on the topics of volunteering, e-health, rural population and digital cooperation. I am passionate about working on new project ideas and training concepts while keeping a national and European perspective.
As an educational scientist with a practical focus, it is important to me to create added value for science and society. So far, I have been able to work on research projects on early childhood and school education in various institutions. I am involved in the research project "Child-friendly access to the internet" to ensure that there are more websites and apps in the future that enable children to achieve a balance between protection, participation and empowerment in the digital space.
I enjoyed growing up in a rural area, but a lot would have been easier if „Digitale Dörfer Niedersachsen“, the project I’m working for, had existed back then. That’s why I’m happy to connect the digital world with „village life“, offer low-threshold connection and to be part of the digital transformation.
Culture, media, education - for me, these areas belong together. As a culture and media person, I am passionate about promoting media literacy and getting young people excited about the diverse possibilities of culture and media.
I like to combine academic and practical work. My topics are Social Commitment in a Digital World, Social Media, Smart Rural Areas, and Digital Communication and Participation.
Since 1999, I have been an idea generator and co-founder of the Digital Opportunities Foundation: I am passionate about people and their rights in the digital environment as well as about digital technologies, and I work in politics, economy and research to ensure that all people participate in the opportunities of the digital transformation of our society. My motto in life is: Learn from yesterday, live today, shape the future!
A positive focus on the possibilities of the internet is more important than ever. Growing up with the idea of a free internet for all, I have been passionate about various aspects of digital life for decades. As a social media manager, I worked for theatre for a long time. With the engagement for the Foundation, I am happy to be an active part of the Digital Transformation.
I strongly believe that strengthening people's media literacy enables their participation in civic and political life. Therefore, I have been working as a project consultant for Starting Point "Growing Up with Media" at the Digital Opportunities Foundation since 2019. I support people in learning and mastering a self-confident, reflected and responsible use of and engagement with digital media.
User experience and accessibility are important components to design a digital net for everyone. It must be simple, should make fun and should be used in a safe way by children, adolescents, people with special needs and elderly.
I want to stand up for digital equality, and equal opportunities are particularly close to my heart. Therefore, it is a concern for me to do my part to compensate for systematic injustices for all individuals, especially for young people. At the Foundation, I work in the "KulturPass" project and advocate for the possibility of greater participation of young people in cultural opportunities. I also do the communication for the project "ich.digital - Mach mit im digitalen Leben".
From an early age, I have been fascinated by the digital world and have been involved with all technical innovations ever since, especially in the field of computer and environmental technology. However, i truly believe that what comes natural to the young age can be seen as an immense challenge for the older generations which they might not be able to overcome on their own. That's why I see a big opportunity of responsibility here and am happy to be able to support the "Digital mobil im Alter" team as well as the foundation with its overall activities.
As a trained businessman, I have always been involved in all matters relating to finance and HR. The use of digital systems has become indispensable and has revolutionised this field. I want to work to ensure that everyone outside the world of work can also benefit from digital services on an equal and fair basis. We should not only encounter engagement offline, but also in the digital world.
I have studied political science, economics and philosophy. In the last few years, however, I have held various roles in (online) marketing. I am therefore very aware of the risks, but also the great opportunities of the digital world. It is very important to me that everyone can enter the digital world as well informed as possible.
As a further education consultant and trainer, it is my passion to create didactic settings that make learning fun for young and old alike. I also see myself as a teaching learner and love to constantly expand my knowledge and skills - especially in the digital field, which is constantly changing.
Growing up with digital media and social networks, I've always had an enthusiasm for the possibilities of networking and creative exchange, but I've also realized what dangers and challenges it creates. As a communications consultant, I want to connect this part, educate about critical issues, teach media literacy, and also create outreach so that the good and important work that is already being done at the foundation and the initiative becomes visible and audible.
I am a cultural scientist and linguist by profession and have been working in various projects in the non-profit sector since 2018, first as an intern in Istanbul and now as a project manager at the Digital Opportunities Foundation. I am particularly interested in international cooperation and forward-looking topics, including how to teach digital skills in the cultural sector in a sustainable way.
As a political scientist and child rights researcher, I am concerned with the conditions under which young people grow up. I am currently focusing on contexts with (digital) media and would like to make a contribution so that children and young people can use them independently, safely and with pleasure.
I am a homebound political scientist from the aging federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Both as a volunteer football coach and professionally as a project manager, I travel the state and repeatedly face the challenges, but also the opportunities, of digitisation. If we want to use the latter for political participation processes, we first have to lay the foundations.
For me, education means participation. The digital revolution also entails social challenges. As an industrialized country, Germany has a duty to enable all social groups to participate. I have been active in this area for many years and have worked with both refugees and young people from large housing estates in Berlin. What is particularly important to me is a growth mindset, i.e. the attitude that 'mistakes' are part of a learning process and are therefore welcome intermediate steps.
As a person who is enthusiastic about culture, it is particularly important to me to make diverse cultural offerings accessible to a broad audience. I find working on the KulturPass enriching because young people, regardless of their economic or social background, are invited to get to know culture locally.
I came to the Foundation as a project consultant for the Smart Hero Award. There, I am mainly responsible for project organisation and communication and support many projects and initiatives in gaining more visibility in society with their topics. Before joining the Smart Hero Award, I studied social sciences in Cologne and lived in Cairo for my final thesis, researching the impact of social networks on the Egyptian revolution.
With great passion and dedication I do work on projects that offer children and young people new, equal access to education, media and culture. Therefore, I am very happy to be part of the KulturPass team, which aims to give young people - regardless of their economic or social background - the opportunity to experience culture live and directly.
Literature, theatre, concerts, exhibitions, cinema... My heart beats for all of these and I believe that one cannot start early enough to convey what exciting possibilities our cultural landscape has in store. Besides my private passion for the arts, I also studied literature and have since worked in various areas of the cultural and educational sector. As a project consultant with the KulturPass, I want to work to strengthen the cultural sector, to make it easier for as many young people as possible to access this diverse, colourful world and to awaken their enthusiasm for all that there is to discover there.
I’m very creative, communicative, and flexible. I love collaboration and I believe that I’m a good team player. Even though I can take charge of independent projects, I prefer to collaborate with my team members. I joined the foundation in October 2023. I am happy to become a part of the Kulturpass project with many exciting and challenging tasks.
I bring order to the paper chaos so that in the end everyone can keep track of everything. I am also responsible for the accounting, without which we would have to fish in muddy waters. Good humour is the essential ingredient.
Having studied philosophy extensively at the University of Tübingen, I now seek to play a modest role in promoting a positive and thriving coexistence by working at the crossroads of research and society. As our living environment integrates more and more digital components, it is important to me to help children navigate the digital landscape, ensuring they can engage with it in a secure and imaginative manner.
Filming in a hotel room, setting up a warming room for people in need in a museum, organizing public events - my previous professional experiences with culture have been very diverse. In the KulturPass project, I'm looking forward to showing 18-year-olds on social media how the KulturPass works and what they can use it for.
Trying out and experiencing media, not just consuming them - that's what I want for young and old. I have been working on this since 2013 in various projects of the foundation. To this end, I create (online) training courses and advise and network people and organisations nationwide who want to experience media literacy locally.
I am a research assistant at the Foundation and a doctoral student in media studies at the University of Tübingen. I do research in the field of mediatisation and want to support people in actively and self-determinedly shaping the media change.
As a cultural economist, the topics of equal opportunities, digitization and culture are particularly close to my heart. Therefore, I am happy to be part of the KulturPass team. What motivates me most about the KulturPass is to give young people equal access to cultural activities.
For me, cultural work is primarily about making it more accessible to different social groups. That is why issues such as equal opportunities, solidarity and intercultural exchange are especially important to me. And these are themes I try to implement in my job as a communication consultant for KulturPass, in order to inspire young people for culture and to give them the opportunity to participate in shaping the cultural landscape.
I want people of all ages and in all life situations to be able to act confidently in the digitalised world. It is also important to me that organisations seize the opportunities of digitalisation and digitality. Therefore, I enjoy supporting people and organisations in the reflective, creative and safe use of media.
As project consultant for the KulturPass, it is a personal concern of mine to get young people excited about the cultural diversity in our country. Through theatre, concerts, museums and other cultural offerings, they can not only develop their personalities, but also broaden their understanding of other ways of life and perspectives. With the KulturPass, we enable all young people, regardless of their financial background, to participate in and benefit from these activities.
Communication, culture and social issues have always fascinated me. For this reason, I studied political science and communication in an intercultural environment. As a communications adviser for the KulturPass, I am excited to apply my interest to important social issues such as unequal access to culture and the digital divide, while trying to inspire young people from all social spheres to join the KulturPass.
Growing up in a village and feeling that no one around you is like you. Since the advent of social media and digital media that connect us globally, thankfully this sensation belongs to the past. For me, one of the fantastic achievements of the digitalized world is that in particular marginalized groups have access to information, communities and participation. Since 2016 I have been working at the Digital Opportunities Foundation to achieve this, mostly developing and strengthening projects for young people.
As a real village girl from Lower Saxony, I was immediately thrilled by the “Digital Villages” project. I have already been using „Dorffunk“ for a long time. Thus it is a matter close to my heart to bring my IT know-how and my business background into this project. I am looking forward to constructive teamwork, exciting tasks and challenges in order to digitally network people in the future, even in the most remote corners of Lower Saxony. Because everyone can (and should) benefit from digitalisation and community!
I'm passionate about diversity, climate change and factuality in the digital public sphere. I studied Political Communication, English and Media Studies in Tübingen, Berlin and Melbourne.
I am passionate about the opportunities and challenges of rural areas. That is why I am committed to strengthening digital participation and new forms of civic engagement in the Digitale Dörfer Niedersachsen project and combine a scientific focus with the joy of adult education in my work.
As an artist and aspiring cultural anthropologist, I am deeply inspired to supporting the Digital Opportunities Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Culture — in helping future generations to explore and discover the rich and diverse cultural landscape that Germany has to offer. In doing so, I am pursuing both a personal and a professional goal: using innovative means and timeless values to create inclusive new spaces and opportunities for people to get to know themselves, each other — and the world around them.
Participation for everyone is what matters most to me. In my studies of history and political science at the University of Göttingen I’ve had the chance to experience the opportunities that a good digital infrastructure has in store for a healthy democracy - especially on the level of local government. I’m excited to be a part of that by contributing to the expansion and evolution of the Digitale Dörfer Niedersachsen.
Individual specific living conditions and challanges are part of my interestfield in the Master’s programme Diversity Studies, also in respect of the digital world. Further, due to personal experiences I rate the use of digital possibilities in rural areas as valuable for our society. Therefore, I am happy to be part of a project that can reinforce villlage communities and works on everyday solutions for citizens.
As a creative, the use of various devices and programmes is a daily affair and causes me absolutely no difficulties. It's all the better that I can use my skills to help people who don't (yet) find it so easy to deal with digitality.
The KulturPass is intended to give young people the chance to rediscover the cultural offerings in their region. The credit gives them the opportunity to do this regardless of basic financial requirements. Young people can benefit from this just as much as cultural providers. I hope that with our work in community management we can support both groups in making the best possible use of what is on offer and thus contribute to more equal opportunities in cultural participation.
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