Ms Hood holds a Master’s degree in management from EMlyon business school and a Master’s degree in urban planning and development from University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She began her career in strategy consulting, where she advised local, regional and national governments on economic and innovation policy. She has a specific interest in assessing the methods and mechanisms that policymakers use to accelerate economic development in their regions, such as innovation clusters, incubators, accelerators and technology transfer platforms. In 2012, Ms Hood joined the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs at the Embassy of Switzerland, first in Paris and until recently in London. In her latest capacity as the head of Swiss Business Hub UK+Ireland, she supported business and R&D ventures between Swiss and UK corporates and start-ups. She has led projects on artificial intelligence and data-driven technology with applications in healthcare, life science and performance engineering. In August 2020 she joined GESDA, where she heads the « Impact Translator” i.e the “do tank” part of the Foundation. Her current focus is to incubate the Open Quantum Institute initiative, in view of its launch in 2024.