Date:February 07, 2013

About Baleen

Baleen B. Shemirani, MS
Co-Founder

Baleen is a first generation Iranian-American, born in New York, NY, and raised in the Bay Area. After graduating from Albany High School, she headed south, to complete a Bachelor’s degree (BA) in Political Science and Iranian Studies from UCLA. Following that, she finished her Master’s (MS) in Clinical/Child School Psychology and Marriage & Family Therapy from Cal State East Bay. She is a Credentialed School Psychologist .
After completing her MS degree, she took time off from School Psychology to start a family and help her husband Bobak build his orthodontic practice in Fremont and Foster City.
Long before starting a family, Baleen made a commitment to herself to pass along her Iranian heritage and Persian language. However, soon after the birth of her daughter, Neeka, she was disappointed to find that there were little to no resources for young Iranian-American families. The only Persian Language preschool in the Bay Area -Golestan Kids-was in Berkeley www.golestankids.com and therefore out of reach for her and her family. After spending time at Golestan she instantly fell in love with the program, philosophy and culture of the school. With the support and encouragement of her dear friend and amazing mentor Ms. Yalda Modabber (founding parent and current Executive Director of Golestan Kids) Baleen enlisted the help of her talented artist sister Shabnam, and Boostan Kids was born!