Annette Kleinbrod joined the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH as EZ-Scout and has been seconded to the Association of German Foundations in Berlin since June 2017. She previously worked for the Secretariat of Transparency International as interim regional program manager in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) program and was head of the people engagement program. Her prior experience also includes being country representative for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Kyrgyzstan, working on acquisition and program management for GTZ international services in China and Afghanistan, providing consultancy and project management in the area of economic, social, and environmental issues for Sinosphere and Environmental Resources Management (ERM) in China, and working on project coordination as a volunteer under the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program in a Chinese-German poverty alleviation program in the Tibetan area and in Beijing, China. After studying in Göttingen (Germany), Chengdu (China), and Marburg (Germany), Annette graduated in business administration and obtained an MA in sinology with tibetology and business administration as minors. She also holds a doctoral degree in business economics. Her doctoral thesis was titled "The Chinese Capital Market: Performance, Parameters for Further Evolution, and Implications for Development". In addition, she is a Project Management Institute (PMI) certified project management professional (PMP®) and a Deutsche StiftungsAkademie (DSA) certified foundation manager.