Paul Kohlenberg, born in Osnabrück, Germany, received a MSc in modern Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford, a LLM in International Law and Human Rights from the University of Warwick, and a PhD (Political Science) from Freie Universität Berlin. 

Paul began his career in international relations working as a program assistant for the American Field Service (AFS) in Costa Rica and later for a German university consortium in Cameroon. Following a traineeship with the European Union Delegation in Beijing in 2011, he continued working on and in China for many years. Research stays at Zhejiang University (Hangzhou) and Tsinghua University (Beijing) preceded a position, starting 2016, as researcher in the Asia Division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, where he focused on Chinese politics, the UN Security Council, and regional politics in Asia. 

In 2019 Paul joined the Heinrich Böll Foundation and has since served in various positions. He was responsible for the foundation's cross-sectional (global) work on China, served as Director (“Chief Representative”) of the Foundation’s office in Beijing, and now, since February 2026, as Executive Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Washington, DC, the foundation's office in North America.