Profile: Christina Bache, BA '03, MA '04

Christina Bache-Fidan, BA '03, MA '04 and her husband, Kogod alumnus, Firat Fidan, MBA '04.

Christina Bache-Fidan works for the Istanbul Policy Center at the Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey.  Christina is the Program Coordinator the Turkey-U.S. Public Policy Initiative.  She is the liaison between Turk and American constituencies and facilitates seminars, meetings, special projects, and coordinates public relation activities for the organization.

“I enjoy working in my current position because it gives me the opportunity to interact with a variety of people, including high level policy makers, practitioners, students, journalists and others,” Christina said.  “It’s an exciting time to launch an initiative like ours. It keeps me in tune with U.S. current affairs and how they relate to Turkey and the region.”

Before Christina moved to Turkey, she worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  According to the Copperas Cove, Texas native, these opportunities gave her exposure to how federal and international institutions establish policies focused on development, trade and other international affairs.

And her experiences and education at American University’s School of International Service helped her focus on her career goals.  “I served as a team leader for alternative trips to Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras for ten years,” Christina said.  “It sparked my interest in development and conflict resolution.”

As a graduate student in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program, she said SIS professors Dan Chong and Abdul Aziz Said inspired her.  And she offered prospective students a couple words of advice.  “I recommend that prospective students meet as many professors and students as possible,” she said.  “The more I became involved at AU, the more I realized how lucky I was to have the opportunities to grow from the courses and from AU community experiences.”

Christina is building her own community experiences in Turkey.  She serves on the Board of American Women of Istanbul and has created a special group for working women.  And she still maintains her ties to American University and the School of International Service.  Christina and her husband, Firat Fidan, a Kogod alum, MBA ’04, and former classmate, launched the American University Alumni Chapter of Turkey.