About Sim

Sim is a relatively new Edmontonian. A native of Turkey, she moved to Edmonton with her family in 2011 after living in the United States for more than 10 years. Sim has always been an activist and a community organizer, but the event/activity that led to her decision to run for Edmonton City Council was the commemoration she helped organize with 8 other wonderful ladies for the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage at the Alberta Legislature on April 19, 2016. 

She had just become a Canadian citizen 3 weeks before and walking on the footsteps of great women on that day was a great inspiration for her. Sim has lived and worked in some great cities around the world, like Istanbul, Prague, Antalya, and New York City but nowhere has she felt so at home and so at peace like she does in Edmonton. So it was no surprise to her family and friends that she decided to run for office in the very first election she was eligible to vote for as a Canadian citizen.

Within a month after she made Parkallen her first home in Ward 10 in 2011, Sim had already become a community league member and was planting trees for the new playground. In 2013, when her friends were out in the streets of Turkey during the Gezi Protests, she made a (semi-viral) YouTube video telling the world about why people rose to protect a small park in Istanbul. In the true spirit of what she believes in (i.e. using every opportunity to make one's immediate surroundings better) she invited people watching the video to make donations so that she could plant trees in Edmonton for free. Together with some great volunteers Sim was able to plant much needed trees that summer in an underprivileged neighbourhood in Edmonton.

Since 2012, Sim has been living in Pleasantview, another great Ward 10 community. For the last two years she has been serving as the President of the Parkallen Parents Association, the Treasurer of the Turkish Canadian Society, and the Chair of the Brightview Playground Development Committee. She loves to play tennis and also volunteers from time to time for the Garneau Tennis Club. This year she succeeded in getting a $125,000 grant from the Province to renovate the Gym in the old Canora school TCS owns, and is actively trying to get additional funding from the government of Turkey to start a bilingual Pre-K program for Turkish Canadian children.

As for her day job, Sim spent almost 15 years of her career as an Educational Technology trainer and consultant. After working at Purdue University in Indiana for many years, she came to the University of Alberta to work for the Centre for Teaching and Learning as an Educational Developer. She currently works as an HR and Budget Coordinator for the same department.

Sim has two stepchildren and two grandchildren who live in Europe. She and her husband of 20 years live in Edmonton with their 11 year old son, Ali and their dog Zip Zip.