Kaunain received her Master's in Corruption and Governance from The Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex in the UK where her focus area of research was corruption in international business. She works as Research Coordinator at Transparency International (TI), and her main responsibilities lie with the Anti-Corruption Helpdesk. In the NGO sector, she has worked as an external contributor for TI's Anti-Corruption Helpdesk, campaigned for nuclear disarmament as Regional Ambassador for South Asia at Global Zero in the USA, and volunteered with the Child in Need Institute (CINI) in India. In the private sector, she has worked as an associate consultant for internal audit services at Ernst and Young (EY) in India. Her other qualifications include degrees in Political Science and Human Rights.