About Us

Established by The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Tarsheed’s mission is to offer technical and operational support to initiatives and organizations working  to realize  Qatar’s 2030 National Vision. Within the current growth the country is experiencing, Tarsheed’s main aim is to ensure initiatives are effective and sustainable to align with the National Vision. From its location in Doha, Tarsheed also launches and supports educational initiatives and projects that aim at developing the educational sector in the Arab world as long as those initiatives have a clear vision and mission and follow best practices in the design and implementation of the projects.

 

Tarsheed aims to better the life of citizens and residents of Qatar by improving the operational practices of organizations working in the development sector, especially in education. Its work this field, especially on the scale of the Arab world, involves developing educational and training materials in Arabic, as well as launching projects and initiatives that target showcasing the Arabic language and culture. 

 

Guided by its mission, The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies –Tarsheed (ACRPS-Tarsheed) founded the Arab International Academy (AIA) in Doha, Qatar, to establish an international private school that adheres to the highest regional and international standards of education. Tarsheed also authored a series of history books for grades six to ten in Arabic, and those have become the main resource for teaching history at the school. In addition, Tarsheed translated a series of mathematics books titled “Math in Focus” in agreement with the publisher Marshall Cavendish Foundation for Education, and those were chosen for their quality content and effective presentation. Furthermore, in October 2020 Tarsheed launched “Manhajiyat”, an electronic educational journal  focused on k-12 teaching and learning.

 

In Arabic, the word Tarsheed denotes guiding with wisdom, to act with maturity and responsibility, and to raise awareness and enlighten thinking. These concepts capture the core principles which guide our work.

Board of Directors

His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Ph.D. serves as Advisor in the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar.  He is Chair of the Executive Board and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Qatar University.  He is a member of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Qatar Leadership Centre and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.  He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arab International Academy .

 

From 2010 to 2015 Dr. Al-Thani served as the inaugural President of Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, an emerging research university building upon unique collaborations with local and international partners.  At Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), he was Vice President, Education, for 10 years, developing Qatar Foundation’s institutional strategy for higher education.    

 

In 2009 he launched Stars of Science, a reality-TV show with four million followers across the Arab world.  The program has encouraged innovation among Arab youth, while promoting the study of science among the rising generation in the region. 

 

Dr. Al-Thani was founding Chairman of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), (2009-2015), the leading global forum for innovative thinking and practice in education.  His leadership generated a number of initiatives that have won widespread renown, including the WISE Prize for Education, WISE Awards and WISE Learners Voice. While at QF, he led the strategic planning for the project to build a central library, now the Qatar National Library.

 

The World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader for his regional role in education reform and innovation. In 2015 the Government of the Republic of France named him Commandeur, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for achievements in education and culture.  He accepted the Magisterio Prize for Education Leaders on behalf of WISE from Her Royal Highness Letizia Ortiz of Spain in 2012.

 

Among education initiatives, he was previously a member of Qatar’s Supreme Education Council.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut, and the Board of Advisors of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.  He is a member of the Qatar National Library Board of Trustees, and has served on the Executive Council of the World Digital Library at the Library of Congress (US), and on the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg, Germany. 

He received a PhD in Civil Engineering (University of Southampton), an MS (Colorado State University) and a BS (Qatar University); he taught engineering at Qatar University.    

Dr. Al-Thani is a keen patron of the arts; he established Al-Markhiya gallery in Doha in 2008 to promote Arab art regionally and globally, and founded East Wing in Doha in 2012 as a global platform for innovative dialogues in photography.  It has participated in Paris Photo, Photo London, and leading international art fairs.  Dr. Al-Thani has been active in supporting and promoting arts and culture initiatives of Qatar Museums. 

Samia Bishara Rizeq is the Managing Director of Tarsheed, leading and overseeing the operations of Tarsheed and all its projects. She is a social planner and researcher with long experience in planning and managing programs related to family counseling, domestic violence, child development, and child abuse prevention and teen empowerment projects and programs.

Prior to joining Tarsheed, Samia was the Director of the Training and Consultancy Division at the Jordan River Foundation (JRF).

She was responsible for setting up the ‘Knowledge, Skills, and Tools’ arm of the Foundation, a new type of initiative offering sustainable quality trainings to development practitioners and public institutions and building a network of partners at the local, regional and international levels. Samia was also the Director of the Child Safety Program (CSP) for the Foundation, an internationally recognized Arab model for child safety. She was the Manager of Queen Rania Family and Child Center (QRFCC) from  2004-2013, a prevention program that falls under the umbrella of the foundation’s Child Safety Program. Prior to joining JRF, Samia was the Director of the Family Center in East Jerusalem, a center that provides psychosocial services for domestic violence victims. She has also managed a family daycare project in East Jerusalem. Samia holds both an MA and a BS in social work