Mabrookah Heneidi
Executive Director
Gazan Student Support Network (Jordan)

What drew you to the world of college admission counseling?
Many of my colleagues describe falling into this career — I feel as though it has chased me my entire adult life.

My first experience in college admissions counseling began when I was a college student myself. My mother was working on her master’s degree in multicultural education and interning at a Title I school in Los Angeles. In her efforts to support students there, she asked me to guide them through the college application process. All of these students were first-generation applicants, and each of them went on to university — some as Gates Millennium Scholars. That was the first time I felt I was part of changing someone’s life through education, and I was hooked.

After launching my own career in strategy consulting and economic development, I moved to Jordan and started a family. In Jordan, I began volunteering with NGOs to support Palestinians residing in the refugee camps here. The families that I worked with had been displaced generations before and were trapped in a poverty cycle that seemed inescapable. Emboldened by my earlier experiences in college counseling, I began helping young people access higher education in order to change their trajectories.

Eventually, I joined Amman Academy (also in Jordan) as the director of university counseling and spent the next decade working with students to understand international opportunities for higher education and scholarships.

Then, when 100 miles away every single university in Gaza and 90% of schools were destroyed, I knew I must form the Gazan Student Support Network. Alongside dozens of other college admissions volunteers, we began working with students in Gaza and those recently displaced from it, to ensure that they could complete their high school and university educations without becoming stuck in the same detrimental cycle as the refugees I had worked with in Jordan.

What is your favorite part of the job? 
My favorite part of the work I do is having the privilege of watching students grow, develop, and accomplish things that I could never even imagine for them. I am constantly humbled by their tenacity, resilience, and brilliance.

How has NACAC played a role in your career?
NACAC and IACAC have provided me with so much professional development over the years. As an international counselor, it can be daunting how much information there is to manage — my students apply to so many different countries and educational systems! The NACAC community has offered me mentorship and a non-judgmental space to learn and grow.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing our profession today? 
We live in a time when some of the basic tenets of higher education and academic freedom are being contested. The biggest challenge is to show unity and commitment to these ideals.

When you aren’t working, what do you like to do?
I am blessed with four amazing children, and when not working, my husband and I love to plan family adventures. This past summer, we drove the Road to Hana in Maui together, stopping along the way to jump from waterfalls, snorkel in the bays, and buy mangos and soursop from farm stands. I love exploring new places, getting lost, and eventually finding my way home.

What five words would you use to describe yourself?
Curious, spontaneous, focused, compassionate, and over-committed.

 

Published Oct. 6, 2025