My Projects

Cheers

Global Dinner Series

Co-founded by Merve Isler and Anna Lindfors, the Cheers Global Dinner Series is an exclusive gathering designed to bring together visionary leaders, creators, and influencers from around the world. These dinners, hosted in key cities such as Munich, Istanbul, Dubai, and San Francisco, provide a unique space for individuals to engage in inspiring conversations, exchange ideas, and foster collaboration.

Addressing the Mental Health Crisis Among Founders

With research showing that 72% of founders face mental health challenges during their entrepreneurial journey, the Cheers Global Dinner Series also incorporates mental health professionals into the experience. These experts facilitate conversations and provide support, acknowledging the immense pressure faced by leaders today. The dinners are not just about business; they are about creating a community that prioritizes well-being and supports the emotional challenges founders and creators often face.

What Makes Cheers Unique?

The Cheers dinners go beyond networking, focusing on meaningful, purpose-driven interactions. By fostering a space for vulnerable, authentic conversations, these dinners help build stronger, more resilient communities. Each gathering is facilitated by experts, ensuring a safe, inclusive environment for everyone to express themselves freely and gain new perspectives.

Join us in Munich, Istanbul, Dubai, and San Francisco to be part of this transformative series where innovation meets compassion.

For more details, feel free to explore the events: cheer.so

Stanford
ASES Summit

Merve Isler recently had the incredible honor of speaking at the Stanford ASES Summit, alongside remarkable leaders such as Michael E. Marks, ex-CEO of Tesla; Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga; and David Hornik. Balancing her previous talk at Berkeley, it was a true privilege for her to share insights at Stanford. Being surrounded by passionate students from around the world was both inspiring and motivating.

During her session, Merve delved into key community-building strategies, emphasizing the importance of defining a clear purpose, using interactive tools, promoting inclusivity, encouraging open dialogue, and celebrating achievements. These principles are essential for fostering a sense of belonging and driving engagement within any community.

She also explored the transformative potential of AI in community building. AI-driven analytics and engagement tools are revolutionizing how we understand and interact with our communities, enabling more personalized and impactful strategies.

UC Berkeley

Haas School of Business

She was honored to engage with the future leaders in community building at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. In a class devoted to the art and science of Community Building, she shared her vision and strategies for creating impactful digital ecosystems.

This class is a beacon of innovation, serving not just as an educational space but as an incubator for collaboration, unity, and innovation.

Merve stressed the importance of integrating #CommunityBuilding into academic curricula worldwide, highlighting the transformative power of fostering collective growth over individual competition.

Her belief that change begins in rooms filled with eager minds ready to weave the social fabric of tomorrow resonated deeply with the students, reinforcing the vital role of connection in shaping a thriving future

Google
Developer Creators and Online Communities Summit

Google Singapore, 2024

She had the privilege of speaking at the Developer Creators and Online Communities Summit, where she shared her insights on the pivotal role of digital tools in enhancing online community engagement.

In her session, she delved into the strategic use of technology not just for content dissemination but as a fundamental component in cultivating strong connections and increasing audience involvement.

Her focus was on leveraging data to better understand and meet audience needs, while also prioritizing inclusivity to ensure a diverse range of voices are acknowledged and amplified.

This experience reinforced her commitment to guiding content creators and community managers in merging effective content creation with robust community engagement practices, fostering a more engaged, inclusive, and loyal digital community. For more details, feel free to explore the event here.

Founders Live
San Francisco City Leader

Successfully relaunched Founders Live in San Francisco post-pandemic, doubling attendance to over 500 across two events.

Secured key partnerships with Descope, Marvelous, Brex, and Edge & Node House of Web3.

Created an inspiring hub for the city's startup scene, fostering a dynamic environment for collaboration and innovation.

UNDP

Frontier Tech

Leaders Programme

Merve Isler is an UNDP Consultant at Frontier Tech Leaders Programme. UNDP and UNTB aim to provide equal opportunities for the youth of LDCs through digital transformation and upskill young people in emerging tech areas, such as artificial intelligence and data science, to support the achievement of the SDGs.

Bloomberg HT
San Francisco

Innovations and technology initiatives that will shape the future.

New business models and indispensable technologies of the future in the business world.

Everything about technology, from artificial intelligence engineering to smart robotics, with special topics and guests in Silicon Valley.

Merve Isler is a San Francisco editor who will be participating in this program every week. Together, we will explore the extraordinary world of Silicon Valley, pushing the limits of technology and innovation.

Community
Build & Growth

Leadership of Developer Student Clubs (DSC) and Women Techmakers (WTM) communities in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Launched & grew Google Developer Student Clubs & Women Techmakers communities from zero to 152 clubs in Turkey, Central Asia & Caucasus that reached over 500.000 students in 3 years. Led the inception and execution of many local and global DSC-related community events and projects. Arranged partnerships with top level stakeholders such the UN and prominent local entrepreneurship platforms.

Member of global Google GDSC Core planning group that decides on program expansion & strategic roadmap.

Created a hackathon and developer events playbook that is utilized by all of Google’s community leads and teams around the world. For a total of 1600 communities.

Sustainable Development Goals

Managed UNDP’s SDG AI Lab partnership with Google Developers.

Led concept creation and SDG-focused hackathons and all stages including pre-accelerator, incubator, and post-incubation SDG-focused incubation and acceleration program to support Solution Challenge 2021 which is focused on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Solution Challenge 2020 & 2021 & 2022 - Global Judge (2021 & 2022 - Unicef partnership)

Women's Online
Safety Programme

Google The Keyword - Diversity and Inclusion

"Women Aren't Safe Online: Merve Isler Wants to Change That"

Merve Isler, a Google community manager who organized the first-ever Women's Online Safety Hackathon in 2020. The article discusses the challenges that women face online, including harassment and cyberbullying, and highlights Isler's work to create safe spaces for women on the internet. Read the article.

Women Developer Academy Turkey

The Women Developer Academy,

will equip participants with the skills,

resources and support they need to become leaders in the industry through public speaking

and other community contributions.

The Women Developers Academy

has been designed for all underrepresented genders in tech.

Merve Isler started Women Developer Academy's Turkey program and led a team of 11 people.

During a 2-month academy, she secured sponsorships with Mercedes and Garanti BBVA and organized events with the participation of the CIO.

WTM Istanbul International Women's Day

Merve Isler led the biggest IWD online event series

to date in 2020, hosting 12K+ guests over 32 online events around the region. Also organized many Women Techmaker’s specific efforts to increase

the visibility of women in technology

and led the first-ever virtual hackathon

that focuses on applications that focus

on the online safety of women.

Created a hackathon and developer events playbook for Women Techmakers that is utilized by all of Google’s community leads and teams around the world.