Tom Zwart is a cross-cultural law scholar and entrepreneur, with considerable experience in government and diplomacy. Much of his work relates to the Global South, in particular to China, the MENA region and Africa. In The Netherlands he serves as an adviser to organisations within the Muslim and Asian communities.

He is an expert in vernacularization, i.e. translating concepts from the source culture to the target culture in a way which is fully understandable to the members of the target culture. He is the recipient of the Li Byun Law Prize for his outstanding contribution to human rights teaching and research in China, which was awarded to him in 2020 by the academic legal community in China.