Melisa Tapan comes from a philanthropic family that has founded pioneering cultural, art and educational institutions in Turkey and continues to support progress in these fields. Thanks to the love of culture and arts imbued in her family by her grandfather Sakıp Sabancı, she became acquainted with the art world at an early age and developed herself in the field.
Melisa has worked in several fields pursuing diverse projects ranging from financial inclusion to sustainable industry. Focusing her knowledge and experience around projects and initiatives targeting social impact, Melisa established Gate 27 in 2019 fall in order to support sustainability in the field of art.
Melisa prioritizes social responsibility projects centering on sustainability and supports the foundations Sabancı Vakfı and SosyalBen Vakfı that work towards this specific goal, and in this framework acts as advisor in social responsibility projects of a number of different civil society organizations.
In line with the vision of Sabancı Vakfı, Sabancı University and Sakıp Sabancı Museum, and in order to develop her family’s heritage in the social, educational and cultural fields, Melisa concentrates on social entrepreneurship in both her professional and personal work.
Melisa completed her BA in International Relations and Psychology at Richmond University in London, UK, before completing her graduate studies at Columbia University in New York in Economic and Political Development. Melisa is also an active member of the Guggenheim Museum (New York); the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
© 2023 GATE 27