Ms. Simel Esim

Cooperative Unit
International Labor Organization

Ms. Simel Esim, a Turkish-American economist, has led the ILO’s portfolio on cooperatives and the wider social and solidarity economy (SSE) since 2012. She is the first woman to be appointed as the head of ILO’s Cooperatives Unit (COOP) since 1920. In 2022, she served as lead technical expert for the ILO’s Office report on decent work and the SSE. Previously, she led the ILO Regional Office for Arab States’ portfolio on gender equality and women workers’ rights. Before joining the ILO in 2004, Ms Esim worked for the World Bank, Development Alternatives, Inc. and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). She has been a member of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) since its founding in 1997 and currently serves on its Board. She holds a PhD in Economics from the American University in Washington, DC, an MA in International Economics and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy and Washington, DC, and a BA in Political Science from the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.