Mina Guli
Water Advocate, Ultramarathoner & Environmental Leader
Through her unique lens as an ultra runner, advocate and global changemaker, Mina challenges audiences to rethink how water is valued, managed and shared. Each speech reflects her belief in the power of collaboration, resilience and strong leadership to overcome the world’s most pressing water challenges.
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Mina Guli is a globally recognised water advocate, ultramarathoner, and founder of Thirst, a non-profit organisation dedicated to changing how the world thinks about water. Following a 15-year career in law, finance and climate change, Mina launched Thirst in 2012, which has since educated over 2 million students in China, trended on Chinese social media, set a Guinness World Record, and run innovation competitions with the participation of more than 700,000 students in partnership with the Chinese Government.
Committed to demonstrating the power of bold action, Mina has undertaken extraordinary physical challenges to raise awareness for the global water crisis. In 2016, she ran across seven deserts on seven continents in seven weeks, including Antarctica, a continent she describes as pivotal to the global water cycle. In 2017, she ran 40 marathons in 40 days along six of the world’s great rivers, promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water.
In 2018, Mina embarked on a campaign to run 100 marathons in 100 days, overcoming a broken leg at marathon 62, which sparked a global movement of individuals running for water — Run Blue. From March 2022 to March 2023, she ran 200 marathons across 32 countries, growing Run Blue into the largest global grassroots movement for water in history, engaging participants from over 200 countries and generating more than 3.5 billion media impressions.
Along her journeys, Mina shares stories from local communities and water experts through films, images and exhibitions, presenting these insights at major international forums, including COP, the UN Climate and Water Summits, and the UN High-Level Political Forum. She has also served as MC at events attended by global leaders, including the King of the Netherlands and the President of Tajikistan.
Mina is a highly acclaimed public speaker and media commentator, regularly appearing on outlets including BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, France 3, Fox, Al Jazeera, and in publications such as the New York Times, Guardian, Forbes, Fortune and LA Times.
In recognition of her extraordinary achievements, Mina has received the YPO Global Impact and Innovation Awards, been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, recognised as one of Australia’s most influential women, and acknowledged as a “Global Visionary” by UBS and Fortune Magazine alongside leaders including Angela Merkel, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and the Pope.
