Marieke has worked in the field of cultural exchange, conflict transformation and human rights for over ten years.  As program director, facilitator and educator, she has designed, implemented and supervised hundreds of trainings, dialogues and related programs that raise awareness, promote understanding and empower diverse groups of people to make positive change in their own lives and that of their communities.  Marieke has worked with groups of Arab, Israeli, Cypriot, Balkan, South Asian, American and European participants in the US, Europe, Middle East and South Asia. 

Since 2005, Marieke’s focus has been on improving relations between “the West” and “the Arab and Muslim world.”  She has designed and run a range of programs to that end both in the U.S. and the Middle East, most recently in Damascus, Syria where a visit to a predominantly Iraqi neighborhood inspired and encouraged her to initiate the GYC Iraqi Refugee Solidarity Initiative. 

In New York City, where she lives, she works in the public schools to help create more conducive learning environments.  She, moreover, works with various cross-cultural and conflict transformation groups designing curricula, facilitating dialogues, and debriefing audience reactions to theater performances and movie screenings.

Marieke holds a double Masters in cultural anthropology and international relations from the University of Amsterdam, with a specialization in identity and inter-group relations.   She has recently started work on a Ph.D. in social studies with a focus on encounter and dialogue work between “the West” and “the Arab and Muslim World”.