Derya Akalin Uysal

Derya Akalın Uysal is a Leadership Development Consultant and the founder of Etudist.

Born in Salt Lake City and raised in Toronto, she spent the first 27 years of her life in Canada and the United States before moving to Istanbul in 1998. She holds an Honours BA in Sociology and English Literature from York University, reflecting her long-standing interest in how people think, communicate and function within larger systems.

Derya began her career as a business analyst in the telecommunications sector. After moving to Turkey, she worked in banking and as a training consultant before becoming Executive Director of the Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation and, two years later, General Manager of AÇEV.

Over almost a decade, she led large teams, managed organizational growth and institutionalization, and worked with national and international public institutions, private-sector organizations, academics and social-impact leaders.

She founded Etudist in 2014. Since then, she has worked with more than 6,000 professionals in corporate training programs and over 300 individuals in one-to-one development processes across industries including banking, telecommunications, aviation, technology, retail and entrepreneurship.

Her work focuses on helping professionals navigate new roles, greater responsibility and high-stakes situations. She brings together leadership experience, communication strategy, behavioural insight and research from social psychology, neuroscience and management science.

Derya works in Turkish and English. Her aim is not simply to transfer knowledge, but to help people understand what needs to change and turn that insight into practical workplace behaviour.