Simona is currently working on two European projects, Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) and the European Digital Forum (EDF), which are both dedicated to fostering digital entrepreneurship and building entrepreneurial ecosystems across Europe. Prior to joining Nesta, Simona was Head of Global Operations at Mind the Bridge Foundation where she was responsible for managing multiple projects and activities aimed at nurturing the creation and development of startups’ ecosystems both in Europe and US. She has been involved with the SEP initiative since its inception, organising matching events across Europe aimed at facilitating business relationships between corporates and startups. Since 2010, she has been collaborating with the CrESIT Research Centre (Department of Economics, University of Insubria - Varese) as a Research Fellow, where she has conducted multiple researches with a focus on entrepreneurial profiles and startup ecosystems. Simona also supports Girls in Tech (GIT) - non-profit organisation that aims at engaging, educating and empowering 'influential' women in technology - by leading the blogging activity of GIT Italy.