Sebnem Kenis

Sebnem Kenis is the Youth Research and Policy Coordinator at Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG), a nation-wide civil youth organization that has under its umbrella 123 campus-based student groups in 77 cities in Turkey. Sebnem joined TOG in April 2014. Her responsibilities include conducting research projects and coordinating lobbying and advocacy activities for youth rights and participation. Sebnem is also a member of the Secretariat of Youth Organizations Forum of Turkey (GOfor), a civil, independent, rights-based, umbrella network that brings together 61 youth organizations from all over Turkey with the objective of advocating rights of young people and influencing youth policies in Turkey. She was elected to the Council of Europe Advisory Council on Youth for the period 2016-2017.Besides her engagement in the youth work, Sebnem is a volunteer in LambdaIstanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association, founded in 2003 in Istanbul, serving as a member of the International Affairs Committee and Faith and LGBTI Rights Committee in Lambda.Sebnem holds a B.A. degree in political science and international relations from Bogazici University, Istanbul. She earned her Master’s degree in international relations from Koc University, Istanbul in 2012 upon completion of her master’s thesis “Islam and Homosexuality Debates in Turkey: Discursive Contestations among Muslims over LGBTI Rights.”

Organization: Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG)

Organization website: http://tog.org.tr

Country: Turkey