Before joining IPPF in 2003, Doortje Braeken worked for the Dutch Family Planning Association as a sexuality educator, manager of youth programmes and international programmes for adolescents for more than 20 years. In the Netherlands she wrote developed training programmes for teachers and service providers, including midwives. She was part of a capacity building programme for midwives in Russia and Bella Russia. During that period, she also worked for the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF ) as a consultant, specialising in young people and sexual and reproductive health, access to youth friendly services, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and youth participation.
After joining IPPF in 2002 as a Senior Adviser Adolescents and young people, she has worked in all aspects of design and implementation of adolescent reproductive health programmes, including strategic planning, programme development and coordination of improving the quality of youth friendly services.
Doortje’s work has been especially focussed for young women and girls; she coordinated a campaign, ‘Girls Decide. Which focussed on the right of young women and girls to make decision s on their own sexual and reproductive lives.
Doortje has been coordinating and facilitating courses on adolescent sexual health and rights in all parts of the world including international courses in Cambridge, Africa, the Arab World and Asia.
Under her leadership IPPF has expanded its commitment to work for and with young people, especially in the area of their sexual and reproductive rights.
Currently she is Senior Adviser Adolescents, Gender and Rights and is coordinating programmes in 30 countries implementing a rights based approach to programmes that create synergies  between CSE, youth friendly services  and advocacy for supportive policies for young people.
Doortje is a Dutch national and has a degree in nursing and an MA in Child Psychology.
In 2013 she was awarded with an honorary fellowship at the University of Brighton for her work in education. In 2015 she was awarded with the Gold Medal by the World Association on Sexual Health for her contribution the sexual rights of young people, particularly in the area of CSE.