Evelyn Palla was born in the South Tyrol region of Italy in 1973 and began her professional career at Infineon Technologies AG in 1997. In 2003, she joined E.ON AG, where she served in Munich, Cologne and Milan. In 2011, Palla joined ÖBB, Austrian Federal Railways, in Vienna. In 2015, she was appointed Executive Board Member for Regional Transport at ÖBB Personenverkehr AG and Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of ÖBB Postbus AG. Palla joined Deutsche Bahn in February 2019 as CFO of DB Fernverkehr AG. In July 2022, she was appointed DB Board Member for Regional Transport.

Palla is married and has three children.