Nisreen Al Otaibi

Dr. Nisreen Al-Otaibi’s extensive experience includes building an organization and comprehensive team of professionals from the bottom up to tackle international and local projects relating to empowerment, mental health and social entrepreneurship. She has served as the Director of Woman Empowerment in Iraq, developed and executed mentoring skills training programs for Ana Hunna, assisted as a project consultant for Pearson and AdvancED and serves as the President of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation Jordan. Dr. Al-Otaibi leadership and experience in the field of social work is composed of over 15 years of dedication to youth, family and women empowerment.

In 1998, when Nisreen, then a young mother of three, found herself in a challenging situation; trying to raise her children in a country who’s culture was being modernized by the day, but trying to keep her own traditions intact. After completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Jordan, and in her various attempts at trying to understand her children, Nisreen pursued the Montessori diploma, which held the principles that education should help the individual from birth and protect his environment. In 2005, once Nisreen started to believe in the importance of a mother’s knowledge, she pursued a Masters degree in Educational Psychology, followed by a PhD in counseling psychology. After earning both degrees, Nisreen realized that there was a gap in our society, and a problem that needed to be addressed; people were unaware of how important nurture is in the shaping of one’s identity. Nisreen found it very useful to share her acquired knowledge, and decided to start Irshad Center. To try to fill in that gap, Nisreen found a comprehensive team of professionals that were keen on fixing the obstacles that families across the country have been facing. Irshad’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it is not just an ordinary clinic, it is a community of individuals, families, and goal setters, with a founding mother who shares the same experiences as every other mother trying to raise her children in an ever-changing environment. Determined to turn her vision of a new generation that has a unique identity and a balance between tradition and advancement, into a reality, Nisreen thought it best to expand her dream from focusing on the individual, to focusing on the community as a whole. Branching out from simple counseling services, Nisreen aimed at training the individual to becoming the best version of himself, and setting him out into society as an improved human being that has the qualities it takes to inflict change into his community.