Stephan Ertner, born in 1974 in Neuss, is head of the Department of Financial Policy and Budget, Personnel, Organisation, Domestic Policy, Transport Policy, Justice and Law, Standards Control Council at the Ministry of State of Baden-Württemberg.

He studied sociology, political science and economics in Frankfurt/Main, Marburg, Edinburgh and in Berlin, where he later earned a Master of Science in Science Communication in addition to a diploma in sociology. After his studies, he worked at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, among other things, as a board officer, as an education and science officer and as coordinator of the programme "Social Participation and Fair Opportunities for Advancement".

In 2011, he moved to Baden-Württemberg - first to the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, where he worked as a policy officer as well as a strategic planning officer and deputy head of the central office. In 2016, he moved to the Ministry of State, where he initially headed the Department for Government Planning and State Parliament Affairs.

He is a member of the Green Academy of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.