About Us
Founded in the spring of 2022, Focus Nature-Friendly Foundation was established with the vision of cultivating leaders who are deeply connected with nature and committed to promoting sustainability. Our mission is to empower individuals to become stewards of the environment by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to advocate for a harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world.
In our first year, we launched the Focus Nature-Friendly Leaders Program, a transformative journey designed for students passionate about environmental stewardship. Traveling across Turkey—from Bolu and Kazdağları to Köyceğiz, Fethiye, and the Eastern Black Sea region—our participants immersed themselves in nature, learning through hands-on experiences and developing a profound respect for diverse ecosystems. This foundation set the stage for our unique, experiential learning approach.
Our second year marked an important milestone with the creation of the “Doğa ile Uyumlu Yaşam Derneği,” an alumni network dedicated to carrying forward our values and mission. With 11 new participants joining the program, we continued expanding our educational initiatives, solidifying our community, and fostering a lifelong commitment to ecological harmony.
By our third year, we embraced a fully experiential and transformative learning model. Starting with 9 participants, we continued to redefine environmental education, challenging traditional approaches and sharing our innovative learning model with like-minded organizations. This year marked our commitment to collaboration and growing our impact beyond our immediate community.
Today, Focus Nature-Friendly Foundation remains dedicated to inspiring and supporting nature-aligned leaders who are committed to building a sustainable future. Through our programs and partnerships, we strive to strengthen the relationship between people and the planet, creating a positive, lasting impact on our world.
Get to Know Us
Burak Özberk
Founder
As a hardworking entrepreneur and business person; Burak’s transformation into falling in love with nature and deep awareness about the struggles and fragility of the Planet developed gradually over the years. He has realized that he loved going into the woods and embracing nature as the best teacher of wisdom and generosity when one lives in harmony with it, not against it. He is a vegetarian since 2020 and now at age 55, he believes it is time to pay it forward and give back and pursues his dream of creating a community of young decision-makers and leaders, and collaborating with likeminded individuals, who would be on the trenches of addressing and tackling the Planet’s breaking points and sustainability issues effectively. Focus Nature-Friendly Foundation has been born through his long-time and simmering vision.
Burak studied at Saint Joseph French High School between 1978-1986 and graduated from Boğaziçi University Business Administration in 1991. He received his MBA degree from Ottawa University in 1993.
He is married and has two daughters and a son. On the weekends and in his spare time which he creates regularly, he doesn’t miss a single opportunity for camping, trekking, mountaineering, gardening, and photographing. He also writes articles in Hürriyet Seyahat about his travel experiences and advice.
Zeynep joined the Focus Foundation as the manager. She is primarily responsible for reaching out to potential focus leaders who are eager to collaborate with us to achieve the transformation we seek together, as well as designing and overseeing the program’s implementation and coordination.
Zeynep graduated from TEVİTÖL High School, which provides education for gifted children. She continued her studies in Business Administration at Boğaziçi University, graduating with honors in 2016. She then worked as a product manager in the marketing department of an international company for two years. Seeking a more fulfilling path, Zeynep left the corporate world to pursue a new journey in education.
She completed her master’s degree in Educational Sciences at Boğaziçi University, where her passion for nature led her to focus on ecological citizenship and environmental education in her thesis.
A veganism activist, Zeynep loves camping, traveling, spending time in nature, watching the moon rise over the sea, practicing yoga, dancing, and ballet.
Zeynep Morelli
Manager
Our team extends far beyond just two individuals: the Focus community envisions a self-sustaining, circular ecosystem. To bring this vision to life, program graduates play a vital role by returning as facilitators to support and enrich the educational journey. Their involvement not only strengthens the learning experience for new participants but also fosters a continuous cycle of growth and collaboration within the Focus community, creating a network that evolves and thrives together.