Board of Directors

Oguz Alper Oktem (Alper) is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Marti Technologies, Inc. Prior to founding Marti, Alper served as Chief Operating Officer at BluTV in Istanbul and started his career at Deutsche Bank’s London office working with clients in the nuclear energy space. Alper received a Master of Science in political economy from The London School of Economics and Political Science, where he chaired the London Turkish Society. Prior to completing his master’s, Alper gained a Bachelor of Arts in economics at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Durgun has served as Marti’s President since December 2018. Prior to joining Marti, he was co-founder and general partner of Aslanoba Capital, a venture capital firm, from June 2013 to September 2017. Prior to Aslanoba, Mr. Durgun was co-founder and general partner of Romulus Capital, also a venture capital firm, from October 2008 to June 2013. Mr. Durgun received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Economics and Management Science and his Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University.

Mr. Freifeld is the Chief Investment Officer of Callaway Capital Management, LLC, which he founded in October 2013. Prior to founding Callaway, Mr. Freifeld served as Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy at the U.S. Department of State, where he was responsible for oil and gas issues in Iraq, Türkiye, Russia, and the eastern Mediterranean and as a program coordinator for the Near East South Asia Center at the U.S. Department of Defense. Mr. Freifeld has served on Galata’s board of directors since July 2021 and has been an associate of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard University and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A member of the state bar of Massachusetts, Mr. Freifeld speaks Turkish and French and conversational Arabic, Farsi, and Spanish and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science summa cum laude from Emory University and a juris doctor from New York University School of Law.

Dr. Healey has served as President of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream since August 2019. Before that, she was President Emerita of Babson College from June 2013 to June 2019. Dr. Healey also served as Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from January 2003 to January 2007. Dr. Healey has served and continues to serve on a number of board of directors for public and private companies and universities, including Apollo Global Management, Babson College, American University of Afghanistan, American University of Bahrain, Mohammad bin Salmon College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Western Governors University and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Dr. Healey has also served as Chair of the Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Committee for Apollo Global Management since February 2022. Dr. Healey received her Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard College and PhD from Trinity College, University of Dublin.

Ambassador Lute has served as the Chair of the International and Defense Practices of the BGR Group since February 2017 and has been the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Global Advisors since February 2017. A retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General, Ambassador Lute previously held several high-level federal government roles, including U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan to President George W. Bush. Ambassador Lute also served as Coordinator for South Asia to President Barack Obama. Ambassador Lute has been awarded three Defense Distinguished Services Medals and a Distinguished Honor Award for his service in the State Department. Ambassador Lute has served and continues to serve on the board of Thomson Reuters Special Services, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters Corporation, since October 2017, and The Morganti Group, Inc. since August 2022. Ambassador Lute received his Bachelor of Science in national security affairs from the United States Military Academy, where he was later awarded the title of Distinguished Graduate in 2018, and a Master of Public Administration in international security from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Mr. Ugur has served as Chairman of Bogazici Ventures A.Ş. since November 2019. Before that, he was Chief Executive Officer of Borusan Holding AŞ from 2001 to 2018. Mr. Ugur has served on the boards of a number of Turkish public and private companies, including Dogan Şirketler Grubu Holding AŞ, Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş., Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayi A.Ş., Gozde Girisim Sermayesi Yatirm Ortaklgi A.Ş., Alcatel Lucent Teletas Telekomünikasyon A.Ş., Coca Cola İçecek A.Ş, Sabancı University Board of Trustees and Saha Foundation. Mr. Ugur received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Birmingham. Mr. Ugur is also qualified as a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Hammad has served as Managing Partner of Beco Capital Investment LLC since September 2015. Mr. Hammad has served and continues to serve on the boards of a number of private companies, including Marti Technologies Inc., Aingel Corp. (dba Tribal Credit), MaxAB B.V., Dapi Ltd. and Axis Markets B.V. (dba Thndr). Mr. Hammad received his Bachelor of Science in finance from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals.