[6][7][8] A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Maher worked for UNICEF, the National Democratic Institute, the World Bank and Access Now before joining the Wikimedia Foundation.

[12] Maher also studied at the Institut français d'études arabes de Damas in Syria and spent time in Lebanon and Tunisia.

[16] From 2011 to 2013, Maher worked at the World Bank as an ICT innovation specialist and consulted on technology for international development and democratization.

Maher states that she focuses on global digital inclusion as a way to improve and protect people's rights to information through technology.

[2][26][27] In a speech to the Atlantic Council Maher spoke about the challenge of combating disinformation, particularly around critical events like elections and the Covid pandemic.

[31] In October of that year, Web Summit appointed Maher as its new chief executive, to replace Paddy Cosgrave.

[35] The United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce requested an appearance by Maher as part of their investigation into "allegations of political and ideological bias at the national program producing office of National Public Radio" as a taxpayer funded public radio organization.

Numerous employees worried that the additional layer of review, comprising six editors and funded by an unknown donor, was insufficiently transparent, may be redundant, and may impede NPR's journalistic process.

[38] In August 2024, while co-hosting the Public Media Development and Marketing Conference, Maher stated she believed her gender played a role in the scrutiny she faced after being named NPR CEO.