The Stars of the Year Awards Ceremony Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary

Yıldız Holding celebrates 15th year of Stars of the Year Awards Ceremony, where company projects compete across various categories. According to Yıldız Holding's statement, the traditional Stars of the Year Awards Ceremony, which brings together Yıldız Holding employees from around the world as well as Turkey, was held at the Ülker Sports and Events Hall. The competition, which recognised both projects focused on business results and work creating social impact, received 236 project submissions across 10 different categories. Winners among these projects were selected through voting by the holding's 75,000 employees and a main jury. The programme began with a moment of silence honouring Yıldız Holding employees and citizens who lost their lives in the Kahramanmaraş and Hatay earthquakes, followed by a speech by Yıldız Holding Global Legal and Public Affairs Head and Board Member İbrahim Taşkın on the public benefit and earthquake relief provided by Yıldız Holding throughout the year under its "Make Happy, Be Happy" approach. Cenk Alper, Chief Executive Officer of Sabancı Holding, who attended the ceremony as a guest speaker, delivered a speech on sustainability. In his speech at the ceremony, Mehmet Tütüncü, Deputy Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Yıldız Holding, stated that the 15th Stars of the Year Awards Ceremony exemplified sustainable success by demonstrating the value created by innovative projects realised through collective wisdom in line with participatory leadership approaches. Tütüncü explained: "As a continuously learning and agile organisation, we have added new categories to our awards programme this year that reflect the spirit of the times. In today's conditions, no individual or institution can succeed alone. The networks we participate in are as important as the connections we build, and success is only possible through cooperation." Noting that as they navigate direction in a constantly changing and uncertain business environment, they remain open to continuous learning embedded in their DNA, Tütüncü continued: "In line with our 'Make Happy, Be Happy' approach, which acts as a compass guiding all of us in the same direction, Yıldız Holding has maintained its sustainable success by drawing strength from our global values. We will continue to demonstrate our potential in productivity, digitalisation and human-centric focus, sustaining our profitable growth while creating value. At the helm of this transformation will be our employees—the stars of both this year and the future. My request to you, including myself, is that we remain open to cooperation and inspiration, that we act with courage, and that we create opportunities to celebrate our shared successes as we do today."

'This year we designated the Board Chairman Special Award as Environmental Sustainability'

Yıldız Holding Board Chairman Ali Ülker noted that he considers the Stars of the Year Awards Ceremony, which promotes innovation and sustainability on a global scale, a matter of pride. Ülker stated: "Today, the success of companies is measured not only by their financial performance but also by their talent management, social investments and value creation that ensures business sustainability. At Yıldız Holding, we continue our work with the aim of creating value across our entire ecosystem and transforming together under our sustainability vision 'This World Is Ours'. This year we designated the Board Chairman Special Award as Environmental Sustainability." Expressing that action must be taken now and greater effort must be made to leave a more liveable future for future generations, Ülker stated that he wanted to recognise projects designed with a holistic perspective and that go beyond cost savings by creating value for society. Celebrating the 16 finalist teams, Ali Ülker added that he expects higher-impact projects for a sustainable future. Yıldız Holding, which pursues its activities with a target of "net zero" carbon emissions by 2050, zeroed out the carbon footprint resulting from the event through cooperation with the Sustainability Academy.   Source