Tanja Gönner was born in 1969 in Sigmaringen, Baden-Württemberg, and studied law at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen.
She is Chief Executive Officer at the Federation of German Industries (BDI e.V.) since 2022.
Previously, Tanja Gönner was an associate and later a partner in a law firm (1996-1999). From 2002 to 2004, she was a member of the German Bundestag.
Between 2004 and 2011, she held various ministerial posts in the state of Baden-Württemberg, serving as Minister of Social Affairs, Minister of the Environment, Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport and, from 2011 to 2012, as a member of the state parliament.
From 2012 to 2022, Tanja Gönner was Spokesperson of the Board of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Tanja Gönner holds a number of honorary positions and is a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany since 1987, from 2000 to 2012 she was a member of the Federal Executive Committee.