Zainab Akhtar is a Geospatial Analyst with ACLED, where she supports the Data Science team with data manipulation, spatial database development, spatial analysis, and mapping. Her expertise includes Geographical Information Systems, Earth Observation, Remote Sensing, Data Science, and Machine Learning. She has a strong focus on research and development and is dedicated to contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Zainab holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University and is currently pursuing her Master's in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. She previously worked as a Research Assistant at Qatar Computing Research Institute, where she led the development of the Flood Insights system, earning recognition at top-tier conferences such as WWW'23 and AAAI '24, including the Best Deployed Application Award.