Mustafa Akhwand

Akhwand was born in 1980 to the family of Mohammad Taqi Zakary, a religious scholar and psychologist who specialized in family relations and also served as a representative of Grand Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Shirazi.^{[citation needed]}

He earned a Master of Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.^[2] Mustafa is a software developer with a B.A in Applied information technology.

Prior to joining Shia Rights Watch, he managed a nonviolent organization called the Freemuslim Association, mainly in Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq. Akhwand led the initiative of defining anti-shi’ism, which was introduced by Shia Rights Watch in 2011. He led the initiative to create the only platform that helps oppressed people all around the world connect and send their real-time concerns via smartphone or tablet devices to the Shia Rights Watch server.^{[citation needed]}