Speakers Trainers Entertainers

Bringing Audiences to their feet!

Motivational Speakers and Keynote Speakers are an important part of business growth and personal development. We look forward to helping you make the right choices.

Kim McKay

  • Presenter Type: Speaker
  • Speaker Topics: Celebrity, Environment / Sustainability, Marketing, Social Media, Communication, Social Responsibility, Master of Ceremonies
  • Fee Range: $5,000-$10,000
Specialty Area

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. 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 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
  • True Green @ Work -100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business, with Tim Wallace
  • True Green Kids - 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet
  • True Green Home -100 Ideas to Help You Create a Greener Home
  • True Green Life -200 ideas to make your life greener in every way
  • 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

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, co-authored a weekly 'True Green' column for the Sunday Telegraph 'Body and Soul' newspaper and was named in G Magazine's Top 20 Australian Eco Heros.

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. 

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. 
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. 

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, 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

Additional Info

  • Presenter Type: Speaker
  • Speaker Topics: Celebrity, Environment / Sustainability, Marketing, Social Media, Communication, Social Responsibility, Master of Ceremonies
  • Fee Range: $5,000-$10,000

Other speakers you might like:

  • Leonard Brody

    Technology, digital media, generations, markets, rapid change, innovation, trends and a diverse workforce are a handful of topics we are examining in business today. Sometimes this environment can make us feel like we are operating inside a blender. There is a lot of 'noise' and the highway of information is moving at great speed. How do we use change and progression as leverage within business? H ...

  • John Cleese

    Fans of comedy will instantly recognize Comic Icon John Cleese: a co-founder of the groundbreaking and influential British television comedy Monty Python's Flying Circus, Cleese later went on to further success on British television, playing beleagured hotelier Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers. Cleese has continued his acting career, with recurring roles in the popular Harry Potter film series and th ...

  • Paul Clitheroe

    Paul Clitheroe is Chairman of the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board. The Board sets and implements the National Strategy for financial literacy. It has a particular focus on schools, universities and vocational education. Paul established ipac securities in 1983. Ipac today manages $16 billion. Paul is an Executive Director. He was host of 'Money' on Channel 9 for almost 10 years. ...

  • Ben Hewett

    Ben Hewett kicked off his TV career as the energetic and entertaining Host of Override and The Big Breakfast on the Seven Network. He then moved from morning Television to afternoons to Host The Big Arvo for four years. Ben says that his favourite part of the show was a segment called 'Celebrity Make Me A Sandwich' where the celebrity he was interviewing made him a sandwich! Ben has appeared in n ...

  • Evelyn M. Field

    Evelyn M Field, FAPS is a psychologist, author, professional speaker and media commentator. Evelyn works with children, adolescents and adults. She specialises in understanding, preventing and managing school and workplace bullying. She has an international profile as co-chair of the Therapeutic Practitioners Group, IAWBH, (International Association of Workplace Bullying and Harassment) and is on ...

  • I would like to say that I cannot think of any other agent / contractor that I have worked with who has kept me in the loop the way you have. I would like to say, once again, thank you.

  • Helpful, quick response time, flexible and full of alternative suggestions.

  • We hold a number of functions every year and are always in need of entertainment and MCs. I must say it has been a pleasure working with Ovations thus far as they have been a tremendous help, always offering a number of alternatives at a great rate. I look forward to working with them again soon in the future.

  • The Consultants at Ovations were both efficient and helpful in our experience and I would have no hesitation recommending the company to anyone looking to source and book appropriate entertainment. Thanks again!

  • From the telephone inquiry, through to an in-depth meeting with Leanne, every attempt was made to ensure that our brief was well understood and that the trainer presenters would be the most effective people to assist us in meeting our objectives.