Edilia Gänz has been working in the field of cultural management and philanthropy for ten years now. Since the launch of FEDORA - The European Circle of Opera and Ballet Philanthropists in 2013, she has become the organization's director, responsible for its growth and impact. Today, FEDORA is known as the world's leading competition for operatic and choreographic creation (with its four Opera, Dance, Education and Digital Prizes) and as a leading European philanthropic organization. In 2018, a digital platform was set up to reveal emerging talent, attract new audiences and encourage philanthropy across Europe, with the support of the European Commission. In 2021, thanks to a second round of European support, as part of a collaboration between FEDORA and Opera Europa, it is piloting the launch of the Next Stage initiative to drive change and reinvigorate the opera and dance sector, in response to the impact of the pandemic on it.
While still a student at the University of Mannheim, Germany, she entered the world of cultural management, marketing and philanthropy by working at the Mannheim Philharmonic Orchestra. After her post-graduate studies at ESCP Europe Business School in London and Paris, she joined AROP - the Association pour le Rayonnement de l'Opéra national de Paris, where she was selected to manage the launch of FEDORA.
Forbes magazine named her one of Europe's most promising cultural managers in 2019 on the "Forbes 30 under 30 Europe in Arts & Culture" list. Mariya Gabriel, former European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, selected her for the #EUwomen4future campaign.