İzmir Commodity Exchange (İTB) Chair İşınsu Kestelli bid farewell to her position after 17 years in office. Kestelli took the podium for the final time at the regular assembly meeting for September, held at the İZQ Innovation Center.
Kestelli's tenure at İTB
A graduate of the Department of Money and Banking at Dokuz Eylül University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Kestelli entered the business world as the founder and partner of a company operating in the international vegetable oils sector.
Kestelli began her service at İTB in 1992 as a member of the Nebati Yağlar Professional Committee and was elected to the exchange's board of directors in 1995. She served as vice chair of the board from 2003 to 2009.
Elected chair of the İTB board of directors in February 2009, Kestelli became Türkiye's first woman to chair a commodity exchange. In this role, she assumed a pioneering position in representing women in the business world and in the management ranks of institutions.
Her roles in İzmir and the business community
Alongside her chairmanship of İTB, Kestelli served on the boards of various institutions working on İzmir's economic and social development. She served on the boards of the İzmir Development Agency, İzQ Entrepreneurship Innovation Consultancy Inc., İzmir Fair Services Inc., İzmir Foundation and the Aegean Economic Development Foundation.
Kestelli also served on the İzmir Economic Development Coordination Board and chaired the boards of İTB's Laboratory, R&D and Consultancy Services Inc. and the Education, Culture and Social Integration Foundation.
Kestelli became the first woman board member of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye and continues to serve in that role. She also serves as an independent board member at Borsa İstanbul.
“The value of being first lies in paving the way for those who follow”
In her farewell speech, Kestelli recalled that she was the first woman elected to chair a commodity exchange in Türkiye in 2009, adding that she continues this responsibility through her role on the TOBB Board of Directors.
Kestelli said being the first was important, but that the real value lay in leaving behind a foundation where the situation would no longer be unusual for those who followed her. She said they had developed projects in many areas during her tenure, from the future of agriculture and technology to education, entrepreneurship and international cooperation.
Kestelli said she considered it valuable to contribute to women taking a stronger place in working life, particularly in decision-making mechanisms. She added that, with an awareness of being a 135-year-old institution, they had attached importance not only to sectors but also to social sensitivities.
Kestelli said she was bidding farewell with the peace of mind that came from completing her 17-year term, adding that she viewed İTB as a strong family looking to the future with hope and whose members were bound to one another with love and respect. She said that although her title as chair had ended, her commitment to the institution and the work they had carried out would continue.
