Sema Genel Karaosmanoglu has been working in the field of humanitarian aid for over 22 years. She has carried out project work in India, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Sema has worked as consultant to a number of aid and development agencies working internationally. While she is continuing her work within Turkey, she also contributes to coordination activities with international aid actors.
Aiming to carry her international working experience to the local level, Karaosmanoğlu became one of the founding members of Support to Life (STL), headquartered in Istanbul. She has been with STL at every stage of its development and helped build its capacity throughout. Karaosmanoğlu currently works as the Director of STL, which, in addition to emergency relief, she is involved in disaster risk reduction, protection and advocacy.
Karaosmanoğlu has also contributed to academic studies in the area of humanitarian aid. She received her PhD from Bilkent University Political Science and Public Administration and has taught classes at various universities in Turkey.
