Ska Keller was born in the city of Guben (previously Wilhelm-Pieck-Stadt Guben, East Germany) in 1981. She studied Islamic studies, Turkology and Jewish Studies at Free University (Berlin), and went on to receive her master's degree from Sabancı University (Istanbul) in 2010. Before being elected to the European Parliament, she sat on the Executive Committee of the Youth Branch of Alliance '90/The Greens, served as spokesperson of the Federation of Young European Greens, and later as women's policies spokesperson for Alliance '90/The Greens in the Brandenburg State.