Marie Ringler studied sociology and political science at the University of Vienna. During her studies she was involved in the establishment of the Institute for New Culture Technologies/tO, which offers an international competence platform for the critical use of information and communication technologies. From 1998 to 2000, Ringler was Managing Director of tO. In 2000 she was a Federal Parliament Representative and Municipal Councillor. During her two-year MBA education in St. Gallen (Switzerland) Ringler dealt intensively with the topics of social entrepreneurship and funding models for social innovation. In 2011 Ringler was the Country Director for Austria and Central and Eastern Europe for the global organization Ashoka. Ashoka is the world's largest network of social entrepreneurs and for over 30 years has provided financial and advisory support to the three thousand Ashoka Fellows, for the dissemination of their innovative solutions to social problems.