PR Team (South Africa | GMT +2)

media@thirstfoundation.org

Mina Guli, water advocate, ultra runner and founder of Thirst, a non-profit changing the way we think about water, is committed to making a difference in the world.

Following a successful 15-year career in law, finance and climate change, Mina runs marathons to raise awareness and inspire action around the global water crisis.

Along her routes, she interviews local people and water experts, documenting the stories of her incredible journeys whose messages about water have reached over 5 billion people.

Concerned about the pace of change, in 2018, Mina started #RunningDry – a campaign involving her running 100 marathons in 100 days which was the beginning of a global movement for change.

And her mission didn’t stop here. From March 2022 – March 2023 she ran 200 marathons in 32 countries, building the biggest global grassroots movement on water in history with people from 202 countries and territories in the lead up to the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York.

With her team Mina is now preparing for the World River Run, a bold, audacious campaign to save our rivers and tackle the world’s water crisis by running the lengths of 7 iconic rivers on 7 continents and bring together governments, companies, NGOs and the general public, as healthy rivers are central to tackling the greatest crises of our era.

As a speaker, Mina offers thought-provoking insights. She takes her personal experiences running on all seven continents and in some of the world’s harshest conditions, and transforms them into lessons that we can all apply to our daily lives. Determined, passionate and inspiring, Mina gets to people’s hearts and minds – and changes them.

Mina has been featured on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, France 3, Al Jazeera and Channel 10, and in the New York Times, the Guardian, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times and the World Economic Forum. A Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Mina was, in 2016, named by Fortune Magazine as one of the greatest leaders in the world.

Mina has served as the MC for high-level events at the UN, including at the recent UN High Level Political Forum and for an opening event at the UN Water Conference attended by the King of the Netherlands and the President of Tajikistan. Mina has taken stories and messages from the frontlines of the water crisis and has shared them with governments and with corporates across the world including at international fora such as COP and the UN Climate Summits.

In recognition of her incredible achievements, Mina received YPO Global Impact and Innovation Awards, and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a “Global Visionary” by UBS and by Fortune Magazine in 2016 as one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world.

Please note that Mina’s travel plans are subject to change.

January - Sao Paulo, and the Amazon

February - Mexico, and USA

March - USA

The world is experiencing a water crisis. Drought, flooding or pollution is how most of us will experience this climate emergency – yet water is often missing from global conversations. Run Blue is a global campaign to move the world on water by uniting business, non-government organisations, government and the general public in the lead-up to the UN 2023 Water Conference in March, 2023.

The #RunBlue campaign asks that no matter what you run in your life - your household, your company, your daily decisions - you RUN ‘it’ BLUE, putting water front-of-mind. Mina Guli is also making a commitment for water, and is running 200 marathons in some of the most extreme, water affected places on the planet, to show the urgency of what we are all facing and why we have to act now.

As part of Run Blue, Mina is meeting with key industry and business bodies, NGOs and government officials to ensure urgent action on water is on the agenda at high-level stakeholder events including Dushanbe and COP27. Thirst’s growing community is amplifying the water stories – and sharing their own – through channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.