Verena Ringler founded and directs European Commons, a network that initiates and realizes transformative formats of dialogue and exchange in European diplomacy, politics, business and the non-profit sector. She developed her user-centered and multi-disciplinary approach to leadership in European integration in longer stints in magazine journalism, diplomacy, as well as philanthropy. She worked as editor with Foreign Policy magazine from 2002 to 2006 (Washington D.C.). From 2006 to 2009, she built the communications side of a transatlantic diplomatic team in Pristina, Kosovo. For more than five years until 2018, she shaped the large Europe program of Germany’s Mercator Foundation.
Verena got her MA from the Johns Hopkins University’s SAIS in 2002. She also studied in Uppsala, Vienna, and her hometown, Innsbruck. She authored more than 300 pieces in magazines and multi-media formats. Her latest piece on leadership in governance appeared in late 2018 in the book “Realistic Hope” (AUP). Verena is a member of the Strategy Council of the European Policy Centre (EPC).