Nazli is the Business Incubation Manager at the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University. Nazli holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a B.S. from Yale University. She also holds a Business Incubation Management certificate from the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA). Prior to joining the Center, Nazli assisted startups and small businesses with intellectual property issues as a licensed attorney in Boston. She is an alum of Coro Pittsburgh’s Women in Leadership XX cohort.

As the Business Incubation Manager, she coordinates the IncubateHER program, which is a free, competitive year-long business incubation program for early-stage women entrepreneurs with product or service-based businesses. In addition to the IncubateHER program, Nazli also manages the Prototyping & Design Lab at the Center, which is open to community-based women entrepreneurs as well as Chatham University students, faculty, and staff who are interested in designing and prototyping physical products. The Lab provides access to digital fabrication tools in an inclusive environment to inspire creativity and innovation.

The Lab features a variety of easy-to-use tools and equipment from local startups and established companies. It contains small creative and crafts materials, and flexible small-space tools such as a multi-functional 3D desktop printer, sewing machines, microcontrollers, robotics kits, other fine machining and textile processing tools. A variety of local subject matter experts will facilitate hands-on workshops at the Lab in addition to webinars and hours by appointment. Entrepreneurs and students can test and iterate their prototypes at the Lab with guidance from these experts. This allows them to prototype their products as the first step toward commercialization in the most efficient way using lean entrepreneurship and design thinking principles.

Nazli excels at building long-lasting relationships with entrepreneurs, investors stakeholders, and collaborators to fuel creativity and innovation in the regional ecosystem. As an educator and a mentor, Nazli guides and assists women entrepreneurs in starting, growing and sustaining their businesses.