Dr. Houda Ghozzi holds a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from University Paris Dauphine. She has fifteen years’ experience in academic teaching and research. She held several teaching positions in Tunisia (IHEC Carthage, MSB) and in France (Paris IX Dauphine). Her research and teaching focus on business strategy and social entrepreneurship in Tunisia emphasizing the importance of fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems, the role of support structures as well as business models and scaling-up strategies for social ventures. She has coordinated a Master Program specialized in Innovation Management and she is an advisor for several entrepreneurship programs including Enactus, Hult Prize.

Houda is the program director of the Open Start-up Competition Tunisia (OST) that she co-Founder in 2016. OST is a cross discipline entrepreneurial student competition focusing on technology used to solve global problems, developed in partnership with public and private partners including Columbia University (NYC), the Tunisian Ministry of Higher education, The US Embassy, BIAT Foundation and Africinvest (private equity firm). Three last editions of this program resulted into the training of 220 high potential students, 120 mentors including faculty and practitioners, as well as creation of 14 impact ventures. OST also contributed in strengthening the Tunisian entrepreneurial ecosystem and facilitating students’ employability within the Tunisian start-ups.

Houda is also a consultant for several Tunisian and international companies as well as governmental institutions, with a focus on the development of high impact programs aiming to foster youth entrepreneurial potential and employability. She is also committed to civil society work in financial inclusion as an administrative board member of the Tunisian Authority of Microfinance Control (ACM) since 2012 and member of the steering committee of the Microfinance Observatory from 2014 to 2017. She has also been involved in developing the startup act – the Tunisian legal framework adopted by the government in April 2018.