Bridging Reflection and Action: How Elif Kus Saillard and Five Women Mayors Are Shaping Climate Leadership in Turkey

This week we were in conversation with Elif whose story begins not with action, but with a pause. After years in research, social science, and academia—and the disorienting experience of moving between countries—Elif found herself “getting lost in the kitchen,” a phrase she uses to describe the quiet unraveling and reassembling of her sense of purpose. It was in this space of stillness and introspection that she began to reconnect with herself. Time slowed down, and with it came the opportunity to reflect deeply on the choices she had made—and the ones she still could.

Fast forward to COVID and she attends the 2022 IDG summit online and something clicks, she senses a shift in her and all the pieces she’s been reflecting upon begin to align....

It's 2024, she’s back in Turkey, her country of birth, when 79 women are elected as mayors across Turkish cities. Watching this happen Elif feels a strong calling to reach out to them, believing that the knowledge of the IDGs would support their leadership as mayors. Immediately five very curious newly elected mayors responded!

Soon they gathered for an initial meeting where they focused on their inner compass, took time to tell their stories, shared their values and discussed how they wanted to lead as mayors. This initial meeting created a deep bond between them, for the first time they felt connected to each other as well as to something greater that they could aspire to.

Over the next 8 months, despite their hectic schedules, the mayors met 3 more times and their energy to co-create change grew stronger. Each session was initiated with intention, and they embarked on a theory U journey, co-sensing leading to co-creation. All the while Elif is connecting the dots of her own uncertainty and understanding from her experiences in Caux, with the IDGs, the SDGs, and with a change process. In December she proposes that the mayors focus on women and climate and organize World Café discussions in each of their cities. Despite numerous obstacles with Elif’s guidance they spend 4 months organizing the events. In April 2025 in 5 cities Turkish women from different backgrounds come together to connect and engage on climate change in their cities.

True to her calling as a researcher and academic, Elif is now putting together a report that gathers all the insights to measure the social impact these workshops had in the 5 cities. The report will be presented at Caux and shared with the 5 forward-thinking mayors with the purpose of constructing a more sustainable future.

If you want to donate to support Elif’s travel costs for her next trip to Turkey with the mayors, you can do so here: https://simplicity.thrivecart.com/donation-for-elif/

If you would like to attend her 3hr workshop Beyond Classical Metrics: Evaluating Impact in Complex Social Systems which explains the findings of her work your registration fee will contribute to covering her travel costs

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1343478072079?aff=oddtdtcreator

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