Mehmet Celebi Partner, Illinois Office BMH Worldwide Entertainment

Professional

Mehmet Celebi worked in management capacity at some of the world’s largest financial institutions and has provided financial guidance to many high-net worth individuals and celebrities as well as corporations. He has been consulting some of the largest corporations in Turkey on M&A in addition to international funds wishing to invest in Turkey and the region. He was instrumental in bringing the largest managed money fund in the world to Turkey in 2006 (the Russell 20/20 Fund) where he organized a week long meetings with the Prime Minister as well as high level officials and business leaders of Turkey. In 2005, he started his current company BMH Worldwide Entertainment with two partners and offices in Chicago and Los Angeles to produce Hollywood films in Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East. He produced the first ever Turkish-Hollywood television production featuring Sharon Stone and Andy Garcia in 2005 and is currently raising film funds in Turkey, Dubai, and the Gulf Region for major Hollywood film projects.

Mr. Celebi has worked with various political leaders from Turkey as well as other countries on issues dealing with Turkish-American relations and the region at large for many years, and is considered one of the national leaders of the Turkish-American community in the U.S. He served as the President of the Turkish-American Cultural Alliance (2000-2006), and as a Member of the Board/Vice-President of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (2001-2007); a Washington, DC-based umbrella organization representing 61 organizations in the U.S. and Canada. When he was elected to the said organizations, he was the youngest leader to ever take office in his community. Mr. Celebi also helped establish the Turkish-American Doctor’s Association of the Midwest (TADAM), the Association of Turkish-American Scientists, Engineers and Architects (ATASEA) and the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TACCI) where he still sits on their Advisory Boards. He also served on the Board of the National Association of Investment and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) in 2005.

Mr. Celebi also served on the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations’ Task Force on “Strengthening America: The Civic and Political Integration of Muslim Americans.” Mr. Celebi is the co-founder of the Turkish-Greek Friendship Committee, along with the Very Reverend Demetri Kantzavelos, Bishop of the Chicago Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, which aims at removing the historic bitterness and distrust, and working together to improve relations between the two communities in the U.S. and abroad. He was also the first Turkish Community leader to ever visit an Armenian event where he met with the Armenian Community leaders as well as Deacon Aren Jebejian of the St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church to discuss ways to improve the relations between the Turkish and Armenian communities. Mr. Celebi currently serves as the Chief United Nations/U.S. Representative of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum; and as a Member of the, a main component of the Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative of Prime Ministers of Turkey and Spain, under the auspices of the United Nations. Mr. Celebi is the first Turkish-American to ever receive a nomination by a U.S. Presidential campaign, as he was nominated as a Delegate by Senator Hillary Clinton from the 13th Congressional District and has recently been appointed as the Regional Co-Chair of the Finance Committee of the Hillary Clinton Campaign. Mehmet also served on Campaign’s Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee.

Education

1988 Bachelor’s degree, International Relations and International Economics, the University of Wisconsin, Madison
Briefly attended MBA Program, University of Illinois at Chicago

Memberships & Affiliations

• Chief United Nations/U.S. Representative
• Member, Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative of Prime Ministers of Turkey and Spain, under auspices of the United Nations
• President, 2000-2006, The Turkish-American Cultural Alliance
• Member, 2001-2007, Board/Vice-President of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations
• Member, Advisory Board, Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TACCI)
• Member, Chicago Council on Foreign Relations’ Task Force on “Strengthening America: The Civic and Political Integration of Muslim Americans”
• Member, in 2005, Board of the National Association of Investment and Financial Advisors (NAIFA)
• Co-founder, Turkish-Greek Friendship Committee
• Regional Co-Chair, Finance Committee, Hillary Clinton Campaign
• Member, International Advisory Board of the Youth Alliance of Civilizations
• Member, Dean’s International Council, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago

Personal

Mr. Celebi was born in Aleppo, Syria to a Turkish mother and a Syrian father of Turkish origin. Mr. Celebi is fluent in English, Turkish, Arabic, and Spanish. He has been married to his college sweetheart, Stephanie Oppenheimer, for ten years and has two children, Eren and Emre.