Marie Ringler is a member of Ashoka’s Global Leadership Group and leads Ashoka’s work in Europe.
She holds a number of board positions, including as Vice-President of the European Forum Alpbach and Specialisterne Foundation, and serves on several award juries. She was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Austrian Broadcasting Agency (ORF).
She was born in Vienna, studied at the University of Vienna, and holds a degree from ESADE Business School, Spain and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. In the late 90`s she helped build Public Netbase, an art institution dedicated to exploring the social implications of the internet and new technologies through the lens of art, and later became its managing director. She was elected to office as a Member of the Regional Parliament and City Council of Vienna in 2001, making her the youngest member. During her time in office, she focused on developing policy to drive innovations in society. She served on the Vienna Department of Commerce Advisory Board, initiated the city’s Open Source Software Strategy, and developed a federal policy program for Innovation. After two successful terms in office, she decided against a life-long career in politics and established Ashoka`s Austrian office in Vienna.
She founded Ashoka’s Austrian office in 2011 and soon took over as Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe. In 2015 she became one of Ashoka’s Europe Directors, and in 2018 she was appointed European Leader of Ashoka.
In her role as Director of Ashoka in Central and Eastern Europe she led Ashoka’s (re)launch efforts in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Israel. In her role as Europe Leader today, Ringler is advancing Ashoka’s work in over 25 country offices who support more than 750 Social Entrepreneurs (“Ashoka Fellows”). In addition, Ringler has led Ashoka’s Global Fellow Selection process in countries such as Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Mexico, Colombia, and the US for over 80 candidates.
Marie Ringler is one of the most sought-after thought leaders and speakers in the Ashoka community. Her bold and creative thinking on Systems Change, Social Entrepreneurship, rethinking Democracy and New Leadership has made her a frequent speaker international events and conferences including at Global Peter Drucker Forum, St. Gallen Symposium, ConSozial Nürnberg, REHA:NEXT, Forum Alpbach, TEDxSalzburg, Zukunft Personal, numerous events of Ashoka’s corporate partners and Ashoka’s own global events.
Most recent public speaking in 2022: Academie Europeenne de Philanthropie Strategique, organized by Fondation de France; Corporate Philanthropy Boat Camp organized by Assifero-Associazione Italiana Fondazioni ed Enti Filantropici and Costa Crociere Foundation; Strategic Philanthropy for the Arts: Global Pioneers and New Perspectives organized by LAC Lugano Fondazione Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana.
She has appeared in international newspapers, magazines, TV debates and radio interviews, has written pieces in Wired magazine, Der Standard, Die Presse, and others, and contributed to books on rethinking politics and social change.
Most recently her life journey was portrayed in Anna Badora’s “Dreizehn Leben. Frauenporträts, inspirierend und wegweisend.“ together with Brigitte Bierlein, Austria’s first female Chancellor, and 11 other inspiring European female leaders and made the cover page of SheConomy. Die Neuen Seiten der Wirtschaft (http://bit.ly/3kWF0gQ).