Rita Ghedini was born in Ferrara, after volunteering work in local drug addiction rehabilitation services, she joined Cadiai Cooperativa Sociale as an educator in a therapeutic community, then moving on to coordination and management roles, up to the Presidency in 1999. President and administrator of companies for the development of social-health and educational services in the cooperative sector, she held important roles in the provincial and national bodies of Legacoop and Legacoop Sociali, including that of Vice-President of Legacoop Bologna. Elected to the Senate for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2013, she left the cooperative positions. Resigned as a Member of Parliament, in November 2014 she became President of Legacoop Bologna. She is also Chairman of Assicoop Bologna Metropolitana S.p.a. and of Finanziaria Bolognese Fi.Bo. S.p.a., administrator in several cooperative companies, and president of Cooperare con Libera Terra, an Agency for cooperative development and legality.