Zainab Mehdi is a Research Analyst at Trilateral Research, Women and Security Fellow at the University of Cambridge's Middle East and North Africa Forum (MENAF), and Freelance Journalist specialising in governance, development, and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa region. Zainab has previously worked at the London School of Economics' Middle East Centre, British Red Cross in London, and Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU) in Cairo.

Zainab holds a BSc in Modern History and International Relations from the University of Essex and an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).