Lisa Akbary is an Islamic studies scholar and studied at the University of Hamburg and at the Paris Diderot University. During her studies she got involved in developing and editing the Zenith Middle Eastern Journal, a project she remains involved with today. Since 2009 she has worked an advisor for humanitarian aid and development programmes in the Middle and Near East, and since 2010 has worked permanently in Afghanistan, initially for the German aid agency Welthungerhilfe and currently as an international advisor for the Afghan organization Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) in the areas of anti-corruption, transparency and advocacy.