Building on the philanthropic tradition of their family, Esas Sosyal (Esas Social) was established in April 2015 by the founders of Esas Holding to professionally manage their social investments.

The initial area of investment for Esas Sosyal is youth employment, an issue of most importance in Turkey. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute 2019, 36% of youth with university diplomas are unemployed. Extensive research conducted by Esas Sosyal indicates that the main reason for this is lack of experience and reference. Youth who graduate from ‘lesser known’ universities are especially vulnerable due to lack of equal opportunities for employment.

Taking this into consideration, Esas Sosyal developed a program strategy with three components, to support school to work transition for new graduates: Research, Joint Projects and the First Chance program.

The First Chance program was developed to support youth in their process of transitioning from school to work, especially for new university graduates from lesser-known universities. Since the program launch in 2016, 95 youth were selected to work full time in 22 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for 12 months. All salary costs are covered by Esas Sosyal, and participation includes professional training and mentoring support throughout the year.

We are grateful for the support of private sector partners such as Ab-ilan.com, Peoplise, Enocta ve Peryön Academy.