Yücel Yılmaz, born in 1975, married and father of three children, one girl and two boys. After completing his education in Balıkesir, he went to university in Eskişehir. During his university years, he was the president of the university student senate. He completed his Master’s Degree in Economics and Trade Policy at Izmir Democracy University, Institute of Social Sciences. He completed his military service at Bandırma 6th Main Jet Base as a Third-Lieutenant. Yücel Yılmaz, who has founded Foreign Language Schools serving in the Education sector throughout Türkiye, also worked as an English Teacher in various schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education before starting his commercial life. Yücel Yılmaz, who has been active in various associations in a part of his commercial life, served as a member of the council for two terms and the Chairman of the Assembly for one term at the Balıkesir Chamber of Commerce. After he became the Founding Mayor of Karesi Municipality, he left the Chamber of Commerce Assembly Presidency and association memberships. Yücel Yılmaz was elected as the Mayor of Karesi in the March 2014 local elections. Yücel Yılmaz, who added 10 national and international awards to his career during his term as Mayor of Karesi Municipality and he personally pioneered the establishment of the Union of Cities Organizing Oil Wrestling in Türkiye and ensured that the center of the union was Balıkesir, the hometown of Kurtdereli Mehmet Pehlivan. He is also the president of the union he founded. Yücel Yılmaz was elected as Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor in the 31 March 2019 Local Administrations Election. Yücel Yılmaz is the Vice President of the United Cities and Local Governments World Organization (UCLG) for the period 2022-2026 and the Pact for the Future - Ambassador for the Future of Government. Yücel Yılmaz is Co-Chairman of United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Regional Section (UCLG-MEWA), one of the nine regional sections of UCLG, for the period 2019-2022, a Board Member for the period 2022-2025 and also the Chairman of the UCLG-MEWA Committee on Culture and Tourism and Co-Chairman of the UCLG-MEWA Committee on Environment. Yücel Yılmaz is also a member of the Board of Directors of The World Urban Pavilion in Regent Park. He is the founder and president of Ida Madra Geopark Tourism Infrastructure Service Municipalities Union, which was established for the management of Ida Madra Geopark, which contains natural, historical and cultural resource values covering an area of 17.000 km2 in Balıkesir region. Yücel Yılmaz is a member of the Local Assembly at the Council of Europe, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CoE Congress). He is a member of the Bureau of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) and a member of the Türkiye Working Group of the European Union Committee of the Regions (CoR). Yücel Yılmaz has been serving as the President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye.