About HMD

Who are we?

We are an Istanbul-based consulting firm that helps organizations transform with purpose and create value for all stakeholders, since 2017.

We build strategy on human insight and use design as the problem-solving approach.

We are your partner in change.

Our Team

We are a team of people with a shared interest in strategy, design, and human behavior.

Our Team

“I have a chronic attraction to problems.”

#OrganizationalTransformation, #Purpose, #LegacyMindset, #Strategy, #Design

Derya founded HMD in 2017 to help organizations transform with purpose and create multi-stakeholder value. Currently, she is working as the Head of Strategy at HMD, an advocate of purposeful business, and a local advisor to local NGOs focused on education reform.

At HMD, Derya leads the new business development and provides strategic guidance, vision, and oversight for the transformation projects. She is responsible for creating an experience and environment where the HMD Team can flourish and serves as the spokesperson for the collective team effort.

During 15+ years of her professional experience, she has been looking for insights that shift perspectives, inspire actions and create impact. Her journey started as a strategist in global advertising networks, where she developed insight-led brand strategies. She worked as the Head of Strategy at the DDB Istanbul office till 2015. Subsequently, she dived into the world of design with the hope of creating purpose-led products and services that serve the real needs of people. From 2015 to 2017, she worked as the Country Manager of the Danish strategic design firm  Hello Group based in Copenhagen. Her experience in communication and design unveiled that the search for purpose should start within the organization and led her to found HMD as one of the pioneer purposeful consulting firms in Turkey focused on organizational transformation.

Education

Boğaziçi University, Turkey – Tourism Administration, BA., 2008
Anatolisches Gymnasium Cağaloğlu, Turkey, 2003

Recent Publications

Tombuloğlu, Derya. (2022). Disrupting ourselves to disrupt the system. Alliance Magazine. Available at https://www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/author/derya-tombuloglu/. Tombuloğlu, Derya. (2021). The birth of a new era. Philanthropy Europe Association.
Available at https://philea.eu/opinions/birth-of-a-new-era-organisations-search-for-purpose/.
Heart Mind Design, Contributor – Yemiscigil, Ayse. (2019). Purpose: A New Paradigm with Implications for Policy, Business and Individual Lives. Global Relations Forum – Young Academics Program.
Available at http://www.gif.org.tr/files/ayse-yemiscigil-makale.pdf.

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Get to know Derya in 3 questions

What exasperates you?
“Being silent on “non-sense” exasperates me. Everyone should feel responsible for raising a voice against it.”

What compliments do you dismiss?
“I dismiss compliments about being at ease with change. I find the comfort zone very uncomfortable.”

What do you think about when you have nothing to think about?
“I find myself thinking about the current education system’s opportunity cost and how the world would like in 20 years if we start to fix it today.”

“Design the next bold move that breaks the barriers.”

#OrganizationalTransformation #PurposeDrivenStrategy #HumanCenteredThinking #InnovationCulture

Efe has been a part of the HMD team since 2019 and is currently working as a senior strategist. To contribute to the purpose-driven transformation of organizations, Efe turns hidden potential into action by designing insight-driven strategies.

Efe is working on projects at the intersection of innovation, culture, and purpose with the common thread of enabling change through strategic action. He has experience in planning and executing organization-wide change initiatives such as the customer-centric transformation of a 30+ years old ERP software company and innovation purpose discovery & activation roadmap for a prominent Turkish conglomerate. Using his background in design, Efe has taken roles in creating models with a behavior-change focus for various organizations; including frontline employee transformation, payroll giving platform, and various interventions for culture transformation.

Prior to HMD, Efe worked in a biotech startup that focused on developing hardware and software for tissue engineering for three years. During his student years, he has worked as an assistant with the Directorate of Communications of Istanbul Technical University responsible for design in graduation ceremonies, developing social media campaigns, and taking part in DesignWeek Turkey. Apart from his professional experience, he enjoys camping, art history, and watching crime documentaries.

Education

Istanbul Technical University – Faculty of Architecture, Major in Industrial Product Design, BA., 2019
Beşiktaş Atatürk Anatolian High School, 2013

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Get to know Efe in 3 questions

What exasperates you?
“Self-centered people exasperate me. Everyone should love themselves but be mindful of others.”

What compliments do you dismiss?
“I dismiss compliments about being detail-oriented. I believe it is a curse (and I try not to do it).”

What do you think about when you have nothing to think about?
“I find myself thinking about why ‘things’ are the way they are and how.”

“Connect to change”

#Human-centereddesign #InsightDiscovery #ChangeAgentActivation #CommunityBuilding #Purpose-drivenStrategy #OrganizationalTransformation

Banu Betül has been a part of the HMD team since 2018 and is currently working as a senior strategist. With a background in design, she creates multi-stakeholder transformation journeys to empower people to act on their potential and lead the change.

At HMD, Banu Betül leads projects both in the private and civil sectors, primarily focusing on purpose discovery and change agent activation. She has experience in designing and overseeing the purpose discovery and transformation journey with a global e-retail brand. She has also created a women’s community building model and developed a company-wide customer insight discovery model for activating a purpose-driven company culture. In addition, Banu Betül has experience working on various projects with multiple civil society initiatives. She has designed a change-agent activation program and driven various community engagement activities in the education sector, as well as developed a collective impact working model focused on girls’ rights & education.

Prior to HMD, Banu Betül worked with Studio-X İstanbul, initiated by Columbia University, and took part in implementing and hosting the 3rd venue of the exhibition of the Istanbul 2016 Biennial with the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). She also has earlier experience working with product design teams in various design companies. Apart from her professional experiences, throughout her journey, Banu Betül has actively been volunteering in multiple initiatives in her local communities. She was a Global Volunteer for the international debating competition organization “World Scholar’s Cup” between 2013-2016 and took a role in the regional tournaments in Dubai and Turkey.

Additionally, she has been an active community member in the NGO “Istanbul&I,” volunteering as the Program Coordinator for the NGO’s social inclusion initiatives and the Social Media Manager within the organization’s Communications team.

Education

Istanbul Technical University – Faculty of Architecture, International Student in Department of Industrial Product Design, BA., 2018
Cambridge International School, Dubai – Fine Arts, English Language&Literature, Business, Travel & Tourism, A-Levels Degree, 2014
Deira International School, Dubai – Business, Design & Technology, English Language&Literature, IGCSE Degree, 2013

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Get to know Banu Betül in 3 questions

What exasperates you?
“Not willing to take initiative exasperates me. Having the capacity to take action but not doing so is merely unjust – to oneself and others.”

What compliments do you dismiss?
“I dismiss compliments about being authentically open-minded. The only requirement for this is connecting with people, which is already in the nature of being human.”

What do you think about when you have nothing to think about?
“I find myself thinking about overthinking … about overthinking.”

Our Advisors

Pınar is a Social Anthropologist and an ICF-accredited professional coach. She leads corporate anthropology and ethnographic research studies at HMD; advises on the latest insights from company culture, insight research, and social sciences.

Ayse is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and a Research Affiliate with The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. She advises on insights from social and organizational psychology, and behavioral and economic sciences. Ayşe researches humanistic management and aims to understand how humanistic ideals such as well-being, purpose, and authenticity can be cultivated in organizational and leadership development contexts.

Her research has been published in leading academic journals, including Psychological Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Harvard Business Review, and featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal among other media outlets. Her latest research can be accessed on her website: https://www.ayseyemiscigil.com/.

Çiğdem holds a B.A in Sociology and M.A. in Strategic Communications from Galatasaray University. During her 14+ years of professional experience, she had the chance to work at the intersection of impact and research. Between 2009-2018, she worked as the Coordinator of the Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program at the Istanbul Policy Center and as the Training Programs Officer at Education Reform Initiative at Sabanci University.

She also gained hands-on experience as a freelance consultant on project management in 2019 at 451 İletişim, The Rural Schools Transformation Network (KODA), and TURA consulting. At HMD, she leads multi-stakeholder dialogic processes to trigger participatory transformation across the organization, assesses the value of these initiatives, and storifies these journeys.

Our Values

  • Be restless and act for change
  • Speak up and give feedback
  • Be deep in thinking and clear in talking
  • Feed your intuition and have faith in it
  • Mind your questions and improve them
  • Reflect on your experience and share your learnings
  • Embrace the shared values but own your authenticity

Connect

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