M.Sc. Arabic Studies (University Amsterdam), expert in organizational development, intercultural team development, conflict coaching and mediation, staff self-care and prevention of secondary traumatization.
20 years of international professional experience in the Arab world as a process facilitator, trainer, coach, supervisor, project and program manager, and experience working with teams in conflict regions. In the team of CoachingExpats since 2022.
Focus and Specialization:
- Team and organizational development in Arabic-speaking countries
- Accompanying international specialists and managers - coaching, training, self-care
- Mediation of Arabic culture in companies and organizations
- Cultural preparation and support for foreign staff in the Middle East and North Africa
- Intercultural mediation and conflict coaching
- Gender issues, sexualized violence
- Team- and self-care in tense regions and conflict zones
- Languages: English, German, Dutch, Arabic, French
- Regional expertise: Europe, Middle East, North Africa
“Don’t say: ‘I have found the truth’, but rather: ‘I have found a truth’.”
Kahlil Gibran
Professional and Personal Background
Nicolien spent her childhood in the United Emirates. As a teenager, she returned to Holland with her parents and studied Arabic, Arab politics and culture. In her first years of professional life, she worked as a national and international journalist. Nicole is a published author of several articles and books about Arab nations, Arabic culture, politics, and social developments, and international socio-political developments.
In 2008, Nicole started working directly with groups and teams, focusing on organizational development within a social development and human rights framework. Within this field, she has taken on numerous assignments for international organizations, as well as roles for GOs, NGOs, and government departments in Holland.
Nicole’s preferred method is participatory and interactive process, such as appreciative inquiry AI, Theory U, the Meta-Praxis of McWhinney to solve more complex challenges and Business Model U.
A growing area of her current practice is holistic personnel wellbeing, stress management and prevention of secondary trauma in conflict zones.
“The majority of the groups and teams I engage with, live and work in conflict areas or in in high-pressure international environments. Physical and mental fitness is therefore very important. People are just so much more efficient and productive when their body and mind are in balance. And learning is best anchored when it is delivered in an interactive way. I am increasingly blending stress management tools and practical trauma prevention methods within my regular work as a trainer and facilitator”
