FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT: Emrah Aktepe, Executive Director, Atlas Foundation
With a passion for people, a knack for communication and some wanderlust, Emrah Aktepe leads the Atlas Foundation in its mission to foster mutual understanding, respect and cooperation among various cultures in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area and connect the community to his organization’s Turkish culture. Aktepe moved from his native Turkey to Baton Rouge to join Atlas in 2012 because he liked the idea of bringing people of different faiths and cultures together for a living. As executive director of the nonprofit, he has learned the limitations of strained resources and often finds himself wearing many, if not all, of the hats.
1) Be so tolerant that your bosom becomes wide like the ocean—Aktepe says this is the best advice he has ever received. Though the Atlas Foundation is a local organization, many cultural organizations in the U.S. are working for similar causes rooted in Turkish scholar and Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen’s ideals of peace and dialogue.
2) Aktepe’s job: to gather Christians, Jews, Muslims and those of other faiths into the same room—which doesn’t happen all that often. “When we host dinners or other programs where all faiths gather together and enjoy their time with one another in peace, that is what I can call an accomplishment,” Aktepe says.
3) For Aktepe, the biggest challenge to overcome as executive director is prioritizing his work and learning to delegate responsibilities. More often than not, though, he finds his organization’s planning efforts to be successful and rewarding, not just to Atlas but to the community as a whole.
4) The best way to connect the Baton Rouge community with Turkish culture: food. “We love to eat and are proud of our food,” Aktepe says. “Food is not to fill your stomach. It is an art.” Aktepe has found common ground in Baton Rouge’s Southern hospitality, which he says reminds him of Turkish hospitality.
5) Aktepe also enjoys leading groups on trips to Turkey and meeting new people in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans community.  When he’s not running around town gathering with other organizations and business leaders, Aktepe might be relaxing watching a Turkish soap opera or going to Coffee Call late at night to have beignets and coffee with his wife and two kids.
Read the full Q&A at businessreport.com.
