Zainab serves as the youth engagement lead at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, a think tank focused on African governance and leadership. She is charged with the Foundation’s youth initiative, Now Generation Network – a coalition of young and mid-career Africans committed to moving the continent’s development agenda forward. Previously she was the organisation lead for communications: traditional, online and broadcast media relations, social media dissemination and stakeholder engagement. Prior to this role, Zainab worked on the Foundation’s data project, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, and research projects co-authoring several governance-focused publications. Before joining the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Zainab worked at the Africa Advocacy Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving health outcomes for disadvantaged communities. Zainab began her professional career in local government working for public libraries across London, where she developed good relationships and engaged in partnership projects with national and regional agencies like the National Literacy Trust, Booktrust and the Reading Agency. Zainab is currently a Trustee at Book Aid International and also sits on the Steering Committee for the African Youth Network Movement, incubated by the Mandela Institute for Development Studies. Zainab has a significant PR and reputation management experience across multiple markets and is a recipient of the 2020 Gold SABRE awards for a public relations campaign. She holds an MA in Public Service Management and a BA in International Relations from London Metropolitan University.