[14] Before her political career, Schaake served as an independent advisor to, amongst others, the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands and to the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. Other assignments included consulting the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as cultural institutes and companies.

Schaake additionally served on the committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), where she focused on strengthening Europe as a global player.

She worked on the EU's neighbourhood policy, notably Turkey, Iran and North Africa and the broader Middle East.

[1] During her period in parliament, Schaake took several initiatives to promote digital freedoms and to include them in European Union foreign policy.

In this group members of the European Parliament, cross-party and cross-nationality, work together in strengthening the digital agenda for Europe.

[18] In March 2011, the European Parliament adopted Schaake's report on the Cultural Dimensions of the EU's External Actions.

This European Commission Trust Fund concentrates the financial support of different EU institutions, member states and other donors under one heading to more effectively distribute aid to those within Syria and its surrounding countries.

[27] Schaake was also a candidate to become United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres's first-ever Envoy on Technology in 2021; instead, the role went to Chilean diplomat Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond.

In September 2013, Schaake joined the steering committee of the "Transatlantic Dialogues on Security and Freedom in the Digital Age" project of the New America Foundation.

Earlier she was a commissioner at the Global Commission on Internet Governance and a member of the board of directors at the Flemish-Dutch House deBuren.