Duygu Başaran, a Turkish citizen, graduated from Galatasaray Universitesi in Istanbul, Turkey, with a major in Sociology in 2008. She holds a Masters degree in Health, Population and Social Policy from L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Socialesin Paris, France. She wrote her master thesis on the evolution of elderly care in Turkey (1980-2008), after conducting a field study in a public nursing home in her native town.

Before joining Global Action on Aging (GAA), Duygu worked as project coordinator for the Turkish NGO, Toplum Gӧnϋllϋleri Vakfı (Community Volunteers Foundation) in Istanbul, Turkey.  She coordinated a nation-wide education project that aimed to prevent school drop outs at primary education level. Prior to her job in Istanbul, she interned at Global Policy Forum, an independent policy watchdog in New York that monitors the work of the United Nations and scrutinizes global policymaking.

Duygu  Başaran joined GAA, as Program Coordinator, in January 2011. She supervises the international internship program and the GAA website. She also monitors aging issues at the United Nations. She is very active in organizing GAA’s fundraising events.

With the creation of the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing at the UN in November 2010, Duygu is looking forward to being a part of an historic process that will hopefully lead up to a human rights convention for older people around the world.