GISA Spring Election 2025 Candidate Profiles: Ahmet Haksever for Treasurer

In conversation with Ahmet Haksever, MINT Human Rights & Humanitarianism 1st Year.

Q. What makes you the ideal candidate for your role, and how do you believe your background will help you succeed in this position?

What makes me the ideal candidate is experience on budget management and my core values of transparency and collaboration. Having previously worked voluntarily in a local NGO with a limited budget, I learned how to make strategic decisions through discussion and deliberation. This experience has equipped me to prioritize effectively, maximize the use of available resources, and maintain transparency in decision-making. Also, initiatives and committees play an important part of our experience at the Institute, and I am highly motivated to enhance the student life as a treasurer.

Q. How do you plan to approach the role  in a way that ensures the smooth running of GISA’s operations and fosters a collaborative atmosphere?

I will prioritize clear documentation for all and guide the initiative on the financial process. To foster collaboration, I am open to listen to diverse perspectives from fellow board members, committee representatives, and the student body. I believe in transparency on decision-making and open discussions where different viewpoints are heard, which will contribute to better decision-making. I plan to build strong working relationships based on trust and mutual respect among all GISA initiatives and with the students.

Q. What past experiences have prepared you for the challenges of this role, and how will you use these experiences to improve GISA’s  efficiency?

I worked voluntarily in a local NGO, which had a limited budget. So, we needed to use the resources as effectively as possible. We made decisions through discussion on what should be our priority to use our budget. I am aware that the GISA has a limited budget, so I will use the experience to improve GISA efficiency. In addition, through feedback from the students (possibly anonymous), GISA can have a better opinion on students’ needs and desires, which improves GISA’s efficiency on how to use the budget.

Q. If elected, what would be your primary goal and how would you ensure its successful implementation during your tenure?

My primary goal would be to enhance the transparency of GISA’s operations, particularly concerning budget allocation and spending, to foster greater student trust and engagement. I would like to:
– Publish Budget Reports: Beyond the budget allocation document, I plan to publish reports on how the fund has been used. 
– Clarify Allocation Processes: Work with the board to document and communicate the criteria and process used for allocating funds to initiatives and committees, making it understandable for all students, especially those wanting to start new initiatives.

Q. How do you plan to make GISA more accessible and transparent for students, particularly when it comes to administrative processes and decision-making?

The budget allocation document is available to the students. However, I want to publish budget reports so that the students can know how the GISA budget is used. This transparency, I believe, will encourage students to engage with GISA. For instance, if the students know how much budget is available, they can make suggestions and express ideas to initiatives, specialised committees, and class representatives. In addition, I think that decisions for budget allocation can be more transparent and accessible so that new students will be encouraged to create new initiatives or continue to run inactive initiatives.

Q.What are three core values you bring to your role?

My three values for the Treasurer role are transparency, participatory decision-making and accessibility. I believe that these values will lead us to the best outcome. My primary goal is more transparency, which I believe encourages students to be more active in the GISA. The more students involve decision making, the more our experience in the IHEID will thrive. Lastly, the students have a busy schedule due to doing an internship, assignments and deadlines etc. So, the easily accessible documents and communication with the board and committee is important for encouraging students to engage with GISA.