Hazel is passionate about protecting the UK from threat, risk and harm, and about helping to ensure that people can go about their daily lives safely and without fear. Throughout her career, that commitment has been the constant thread — alongside a deep belief in the power of innovation, coaching and mentoring to build stronger systems, better capabilities and more resilient people.
Hazels career has been broad and varied, spanning drug development, frontline operational firefighting, crime scene investigation and the civil service. Since 2018, she has been the National Security and Defence Knowledge Transfer Manager at Innovate UK Business Connect working with government departments and regional defence and security clusters, to support innovative small businesses bring their dual-use technologies into the defence supply chain This breadth of experience has given Hazel a unique perspective on how science, technology, innovation and people development can come together to solve complex operational challenges.
Defence is a vital part of homeland security. It is about far more than military presence in conflict; it is about protecting the UK, its citizens wherever they are in the world, and our national interests from those who seek to do harm — whether through hostile intent, emerging technologies or sector-specific threats.
For Hazel, defence is a golden thread that runs through all innovation activity. It is about ensuring that research, development and innovation are assessed not only for their potential benefit, but also for the risks, vulnerabilities and harms that may arise through misuse, exploitation or disruption by others.
Where others may see emerging innovation purely as a force for good, Hazel also asks how it could be intercepted, repurposed, re-engineered or weaponised. Equally, she is interested in how innovations developed for civilian sectors can be translated into defence contexts. Hazel works with small companies and academia to develop and deploy solutions safely, responsibly and with appropriate safeguards in place.
Alongside her strategic and innovation work, Hazel is passionate about supporting people. She enjoys bringing the right people together to solve operational problems, spotting opportunities for innovation, and supporting others to develop their ideas, networks and confidence through collaboration.
Coaching and mentoring are important parts of how Hazel leads and collaborates, whether that is helping colleagues navigate change, supporting partners to shape ideas, or encouraging others to build confidence in new and challenging environments. Hazel believes that investing in people is just as important as investing in technology.