İlknur Peder, Founder of a company for personal consultations – “Bridge” (“Köprü”)

In 2003, Ilknur founded the “Bridge” (“Köprü”) Consultancy and Personal Development Company. Her company provides consultancy services for PWDs and offers psychological support to PWDs and other disadvantaged persons. Ilknur pleads for fundamental rights of persons with a disability.

Ilknur has a physical disability herself. At the same time, she chairs the Izmir Branch of the Turkish Association of People with disabilities. She is also in charge of the Health Board of the Izmir Chamber of Commerce.

Banned from school because of her disability, Ilknur could not get basic education. She learned to read and write with her feet on her own. She read many books from different disciplines and improved herself. She has been dreaming of becoming a psychologist, whom she saw in a movie. To fulfill it, she completed primary school and a high school with external exams. Then she passed the university exam and studied at the Psychology Department of Ege University. She finally graduated from the University and took third place among other students, though her family was against her education. After her education was completed, she founded a company to change the environment and fight the discrimination she has been facing throughout her life.

Before establishing her workplace, Ilknur attended many vocational and clinical training courses provided by universities and counseling centers. She says that the most important effect on her life from running a company is a feeling of social acceptance.