Arzu Tekir earned her master’s degree in econometrics from Dokuz Eylul University and holds a bachelor’s degree in statistics from Ege University, in Turkey. She started her career in a management consultancy company, which she subsequently restructured and ran for about two years. During this time, she was invited by the Director of the Social Sciences Institute of Kadir Has University, in Istanbul, to design a one-semester course program for MBA students. As a lecturer, she gave lessons on Total Quality Management (ISO 9001:2000) and risk management.
She has also worked as a European Union Projects Coordinator and External Relations Director for IT companies, directing the financing of research and development projects. Arzu continued her consulting career in the United States, while at the same time, conducting several market research projects in New York and writing business plans and reports for investors and telecom companies interested in developing innovative IT projects in Istanbul.
In the beginning of 2011, she started working at the World Resources Institute (WRI), in Washington, DC, as an Operations Manager for EMBARQ Turkey. In December 2011, she was appointed as Director of EMBARQ Turkey and restructured the organization and managed the process of establishing the Sustainable Transportation Association in Turkey.