nadig first taught in england and france before returning to switzerland and marrying the social activist leonhard ragaz in 1901. she took a teaching position in the engadin valley, while her husband served as the chief protestant cleric of chur between 1902 and 1906. in 1902, she was one of the founders of the swiss federation of abstinent women (), an arm of the international temperance movement in switzerland. in 1907, she joined the feminist organization union for the advancement of women (), when the couple were in bern and her husband served as a pastor for the basel minster. in 1908, they moved to zürich, where her husband was engaged as a professor of theology at the university of zurich. ragaz continued teaching in zürich and joined the buyer's collective known as the social buyer's league () and remained a part of the group until 1915.