Kim McKay

Kim McKay's international career in media, social marketing and communications spans over 25 years and every continent.  A highly skilled communicator and entrepreneurial marketer, Kim has created and managed many visionary and large scale international projects. In June 2008 she was recognized by the Australian government for distinguished service to the environment and the community and was awarded an Order of Australia (AO), one of that country's highest civilian honours.   She is currently a director of Momentum2, a Sydney based social & sustainability marketing consultancy working on local and global projects for National Geographic Society & Qantas among other clients.

Kim has worked consistently in support of the local and global environment for two decades starting when she co-founded Clean Up Australia and then later Clean Up the World with 1994 Australian of the Year, Ian Kiernan, AO.  Along with a group of friends, they were on a mission to raise awareness and take positive action in support of their local environment - the message that everyone can make a difference has been the driving theme behind her actions.   

She is the co-author with Jenny Bonnin of five books:

• True Green -100 Everyday Ways You Can Contribute to a Healthier Planet (ABC Books $19.95, Nov 2006) - also published by National Geographic in the United States (April 2007).
• True Green @ Work -100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business, with Tim Wallace, released by ABC Books in August, 2007 ($22.95) and the US  by NG February 2008.
• True Green Kids - 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet (ABC Books $22.95) released in  April 2008 and  launched in the US by NG in September 2008.
• True Green Home -100 Ideas to Help You Create a Greener Home (ABC Books $22.95) released in Australia in October, 2008 and due for release in the US by NG in April 2009. 
• True Green Life -200 ideas to make your life greener in every way (ABC Books $29.95) released in Australia, April, 2009 and due for publication by NG in USA in April 2010.
• True Green Kids is the winner of one of the USA's most prestigious children's science book awards, the AAAS/Subaru Book Prize for Best Hands On Science Book and has been featured in the journal, Science Magazine-  awarded in Chicago,  February, 2009.

Kim is a regular media commentator on environmental issues and practical environmental action and is a sought-after inspirational public speaker addressing not-for-profit and business conferences as well as schools & community groups on her rich experiences.   She has recently completed a series of on-camera 'True Green tips' for Sky News in Australia as part of the weekly Sky Eco Report running through 2009, co-authored a weekly 'True Green' column for the Sunday Telegraph 'Body and Soul' newspaper in 2007 and was named in G Magazine's Top 20 Australian Eco Heros list in the November 2009 issue.

In 2004 Kim returned to Australia after almost seven years working in the United States in cable television for two of the most respected non-fiction channels, Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channels International (NGCI).  She joined NGCI as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications in June 2000. 

Her career has been dominated by adventure pursuits and the environment - she was a project manager on all four BOC Challenge solo around the world yacht races in the 1980's and 90's; a media representative on the APSA World Pro Surfing tour in the 1980's; executive director of Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge in Australia, Morocco and Argentina in the late 1990's; and in recent years, part of National Geographic research and filming expeditions to Peru, Egypt and India. 
Since 2004, Kim has co-created The Genographic Project for National Geographic with population geneticist, Dr. Spencer Wells.  One of the largest and wide-ranging projects in National Geographic's 120 year history,  the five year+ global study traces humankind's migratory history during the past 60,000 years and actively involves the general public through the purchase of a DNA cheek-swab test kit to identify an individual's deep ancestry.     

Kim conceived the project with Dr. Wells and secured global corporate support from IBM.  To date, more than 340,000 test kits have been sold raising millions of dollars for the Genographic Project's Legacy Fund to benefit cultural preservation and education projects in indigenous communities around the world. 

In 1989, after staging the historic Clean Up Sydney Harbour Day, Kim co-founded Clean Up Australia and served as Deputy Chairwoman for 20 years (1989- 2009), helping direct the growth of the organization.  Today, Clean Up Australia is the largest community environmental project in Australia annually attracting more than half a million volunteers.

Following on from the success of this effort, in 1992 she co-founded Clean Up the World, securing partnership with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and international corporate support.  The program now operates in 120+ countries and annually involves over 30 million participants.       
           
Kim's other not-for-profit roles include: Chair, Editorial Advisory Committee, CSIRO's ECOS Magazine (Australia's oldest environmental publication); foundation board member of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS); steering committee member of the National Business Leader's Forum on Sustainable Development; board member of the Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University, Washington, DC; advisory board member of the EYE Foundation and a communications advisory committee member of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  She is also an Ambassador for the 1 Million Women campaign.

In the past she served for 20 years on the Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World boards; was a member of the Community Relations Committee for the Sydney Olympic Bid; voluntarily helped coordinate the Million Mom March in Washington DC in 2000; and was one of the co-founders of the Short-handed Sailing Association of Australia.  In January 2008 she traveled to Antarctica as part of the Expedition Team, lecturing on board the Australian-based cruise ship, ORION. 

She holds a BA (Communications) from UTS (University of Technology, Sydney) and has won numerous Australian and international awards for her work in the environment and communications including a United Nations citation for Clean Up the World and IPRA's Golden World Award for Excellence in Environmental Communication.

She has lived in the USA, UK, Morocco and Argentina for extended periods and now lives in her hometown, Sydney, Australia. 

Speaking topics can include:

• Making a Difference
• Greening Your Workplace
• Greening Your Home
• Living the True Green Life
  

Client Ovations: Kim's presentation, True Green @ Work, was the jumpstart we needed. Her knowledge andpassion for the topic is extraordinary. She held the audience captive with her stories, her facts and her humour. I feel we moved forward on year in one hour.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, USA.

We can't thank Kim enough. She delivered a really compelling and inspiring speech to kick off our sustainability campaign, Project Leaf, and certainly got the staff talking. It was very aligned with our objectives for the event and the entire Green Team were thrilled.

Communications Manager, International Corporate, Forbes 100

Kim McKay was a key speaker at a team event for News Digital Careers. News Corp has introduced a global program, One Degree, to reduce the organisation's carbon footprint. Kim was fantastic. She uses a blend of knowledge and humour to really engage with her audience and to provide a global overview as well as an insight into her own personal journey championing the environment. Kim conveys both authority and accessibility in equal measure. Team members are still walking around quoting Kim. The tips she provided were translated into almost instant action too. Kim's presentation really energised staff and created conversations across departments.

Editor, careerone.com.au

It has been my great pleasure to work with Kim McKay on three events in the DC area discussing her book, True Green @ Work. She is the consummate professional! Her talk on the environment is fun, fact filled, convincing and animated. She is an engaging speaker whose passion for her work shone through each time. Audiences left feeling inspired rather than depressed and she stressed her theme of one person making a difference.

Partner, HooksBookEvents

Kim McKay reminds us that big change starts with small, individual actions. In discussing True Green at Work at the Treasury Executive Institute, she gave a compelling call to action for each person to make changes that can help save this planet we share. She moves beyond gloom and doom predictions to share practical, easy changes to our daily behavior that cumulatively can make a big difference.

Director, Treasury Executive Institute, US Federal Government