Curriculum Development | Bay Area Turkish Society (BTS)

Community-Centered Design Education

Co-founded and led the development of a community-based education model through the Bay Area Turkish Society, a nonprofit organization focused on cultural connection, learning, and social impact.

As founder and president, I designed and built the curriculum from the ground up to serve a diverse, multinational community. The work centered on two questions: how to empower a growing community through meaningful programming, and how to nurture curiosity, empathy, and a sense of global citizenship in children.

Through a series of co-design sessions with educators, families, and community members, the organization evolved from a school into a broader community platform. Programming expanded to include design workshops, cultural education, parenting seminars, and university engagement initiatives, creating a more holistic and responsive learning environment.

I applied design thinking and life-centered design principles to shape the curriculum as an evolving system, one that could adapt through feedback, iteration, and real community needs. This approach enabled a shift toward more inclusive, participatory, and experience-driven learning.

The work also created a bridge between academic and community contexts, bringing industrial design students into the BTS environment to co-design educational tools and engage directly with real users.

Impact

• Built a community-driven curriculum from the ground up

• Transformed a school into a dynamic, multi-layered community organization

• Created partnerships connecting design education with real-world community engagement

• Established a model for co-created, culturally grounded learning environments