Arifé Yildiz graduated with a master's in German and European law from the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. Arifé started her career as a legal counsel in public and European law. She worked in international environments in Germany, Belgium and France, which led her to develop a strong network in the institutional and private sectors.

Arifé then joined the PR firm Allison+Partners in 2015, as a media relations and public affairs consultant, where she advised clients from various sectors such as industrial, environmental, real-estate but also institutional. In particular, she coordinated the European outreach campaign of the Zayed Prize, the first international prize in renewable energies (total of 3M USD).

She is actively engaged in European projects with the President's youth movement (Les jeunes avec Macron), such as the coordination of the OSE project (Our Sustainable Europe) gathering 17 pro-European youth movements. She joined Syntagme in January 2021 as a consulting director where she works currently. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Women Leading the Game - WLG

This project empowered 25 girls in sports by hosting a total of nine meetings, five of which were virtual discussions with professional women athletes where the girls were able to hear the athletes’ stories, discuss shared challenges and ask questions. The other four sessions provided a space where the student athletes could speak out about the main issues they encounter when they practice sports in a club and want to pursue careers as professional athletes as young women and girls. In addition to opening up about these issues, the project also created recommendations for best practices that can be adopted to improve the environment for girls and young women pursuing athletic careers. Arifé's project also raised awareness on this issue and pushed for a change in the way we deal with these problems and situations in national sport federations, clubs and in society in general. Specifically, the project produced a leaflet in both English and French with recommendations about how to improve the landscape of sports for girls and young women, which was distributed to local and international stakeholders in the sports industry. Four of the student athletes mentioned that they used to have ambitions to become professional athletes, but with all the difficulties and discriminations they faced, they had abandoned the idea as they grew older. They shared that the project restored their faith in this possibility and empowered them to continue pursuing this dream.

WLG Video English Version  WLG Video French Version

Arifé leading a working session with the girls in the senior football team around the difficulties encountered by women in the practice of sport.

"[The athletes we met with] talk about helping each other: it's become a major focus for us in our team, so before a game we try to remind ourselves what the professional told us 2-3 days before and that gives us the drive and the desire to succeed." - Project Participant

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Arifé was a participant in the IVLP Project Current U.S. Social, Political, and Economic Issues for Young European Leaders III, organized by the U.S. Department of State and Cultural Vistas.

Arifé's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "My IVLP experience was an amazing experience which strengthened my motivation to be a real change-maker, to be a leader, and to inspire girls to make a change and not suffer from discrimination."

U.S. Communities Visited

Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Washington, DC; Orlando, FL

Country: France 

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