Maja Spanu

Maja is the Director of Ariadne. She brings extensive experience at the intersection of philanthropy, social justice, human rights, democracy, and civic space. Prior to joining Ariadne, she was Head of Knowledge and International Affairs at Fondation de France in Paris.

Her career spans philanthropy, academia, civil society, and policy, with a consistent focus on advancing equity, justice, and inclusive collaboration across sectors. As both a philanthropic practitioner and a former researcher, Maja has worked on issues including racism and discrimination, gender equity, civic space and democracy, human rights, and state-building. She is a board member of the newly established Fund for Democracy in France. She holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Italy.