Winnaretta Zina Singer, more commonly known as Zina, is British and Iranian, born in France and raised in England and Monaco. She majored in Economics, studied management at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, HEC Lausanne then marketing at IMD and Management of Innovation Ecosystems at MIT Sloan.
The first 10 years of her career are in the field of innovative medical services for travelers, groups working alternatively for start-ups and large international groups (Europ, Israel, Singapore, the US, West Africa, Central & South America).
From 2012 to 2018 she moves to the academic world first enhancing tech transfer from research to the industry at the Transportation Center, Integrative food center, Switzerland Innovation Parks and the Vice Presidency for Innovation of Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
In 2018, she shifts to entrepreneurial driven innovation, joining the world leading Hospitality Management school EHL to define the vision, launch and run its Innovation Hub. Director of the EHL Innovation foundation, she set-up a financial support tool for start-ups, reinforces EHL’s position in local academic consortiums. She engages in several PR and visibility activities such as public speaking /conferences, interviews, press articles and is a visiting expert in student classes. She has been jury or advisor to roughly 300 start-ups.
Since 2024 she is Chief Innovation at ThinkSport. Zina is a mother of 2 wonderful teenagers and stepmother to an amazing young man Swiss champion of Swimming. She is a former karate instructor and enjoys go karting on her free time.