Derya Matraş has been appointed as regional director of Facebook in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
In this role, Matraş will lead Facebook to serve businesses and communities and to grow the company’s economic and social impact across the region.
“The fast-growing Middle East, Africa and Turkey region is an important market for Facebook. Derya’s wealth of experience in emerging markets and her pioneering spirit will help us further drive impact and value in this uniquely diverse region, while maintaining our mission of bringing people together and building communities,” says Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook’s Europe, Middle East Africa vice-president.
Derya spent most of her career in emerging markets and was previously the Facebook country director for Turkey.
Prior to joining Facebook, she was vice-resident of Dogan Media Group, and has also held leadership roles in management consulting at McKinsey & Company.
Matraş comments: “I am honoured to lead this diverse region for Facebook where our goals of building new experiences that meaningfully improve people’s lives and supporting millions of businesses that rely on our services to grow and create jobs, truly come to life.
“As a woman leader, I am very proud to be appointed to this region where diversity is of crucial importance, and I am looking forward to continuing to drive our significant economic and social value contribution.”
Matraş has a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Bogazici University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Derya, who is one of the permanent members of the Women in Tech Foundation (Wtech), has also been ranked 6th in Ekonomist’s 2019 “The 50 Most Powerful Women CEOs in Turkey ” and was on Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list in 2016. She is also the California President of the Turkish American Business Council (TAIK) and a member of the Entrepreneurship Board Executive Committee of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchange (TOBB) in Turkey.