Volkan Cakir

Volkan Cakir heads Helen Keller’s Center for Strategic Partnerships, responsible advancing locally-led development and leading collaborative relationships with institutional donors and investors and global, regional, national and local partners. He previously served as Regional Director of Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa, providing management and program oversight to Helen Keller’s work in six countries – Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania – ensuring our programs operate with high standards to fulfill Helen Keller’s mission.

Volkan is a skilled health economist and manager, with almost 30 years of experience in health sector reform and has worked in more than 10 African countries over the past 20 years to create policy change that achieves better development outcomes on the ground. He has managed large and complex health programs and built effective working relationships with U.S. Agency for International Development and European Union missions, the World Bank, United Nations agencies, various global development funds, and host country counterparts across Africa. Volkan has MSc in economics and speaks English, French, and Turkish. He is based in France.