Born in Belgium with German nationality, she lived and studied in Konstanz, Paris, Buenos Aires and later Bruges. Worked in the European Parliament before joining the European Commission in 1994. Started in the Directorate General's Unit for Audiovisual Policy, changed to Environment in 1996. From 1998 until 2003 she worked at the representation of the European Commission in Berlin. During her year of personal leave 2003-2004, she advised the umbrella organisation of German cultural organisations Deutscher Kulturrat on European affairs. Until 2009, she was Head of the Regional Representation of the Commission in Bonn. She returned to Brussels as Head of the Press Unit of the European Economic and Social Committee until mid-2011. Until 2016, she ran the Culture Unit at the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency which implements the EU's funding programmes in these areas. Since 2017 she is responsible for the Creative Europe culture sub-programme at Directorate General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.

Emrah is the General Coordinator of the ENCATE and works as Co-Director at KIgA e.V. He has over 15 years of experience in civic education, historical memory, networking, and philanthropy. He is the founder of Karakutu and ENCATE and served on the board of several nonprofits. Prior to joining KIgA, he worked in various human rights, youth, and education nonprofits in Turkey and internationally. He organized high-level international conferences and edited several publications on antisemitism. He holds a master's degree in Development Economics and is pursuing another master's in Philanthropic Studies at the University of Kent.