Dr Dianne McGrath’s New Adventure

Can you imagine the work that goes into competing in an international yacht race? Let alone one that goes for almost a whole year!

Dr Dianne McGrath certainly can. With just under a year until launch in September next year, this global leader, extreme adventurer and all-round superwoman is studying the winds and readying her sea legs in preparation for the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race.

Dianne will be one of the 11 70-foot yachts competing in the race. Over 40,000 nautical miles spanning every continent bar Antarctica. 11 months at sea. 8 legs. 6 ocean crossings. It will be a challenge like no other. Having already accomplished so many jaw-dropping feats in her lifetime, we can’t think of anyone more ready and able to take up the role of circumnavigator than Dr Dianne. By participating in the race, Dianne hopes to share how she pushes herself to go beyond her comfort zone and continues to develop her resilience to achieve remarkable things. In doing so, she hopes to show how this is something within all our power, and inspire us all to treasure what truly matters in life: our planet.

This astonishing woman seems to have done it all. A natural leader, she’s worked in marketing, emergency services, non-for-profits, and at all levels of government. She already has a taste for extreme adventuring – whether it be ultramarathons, long-distance cycling or sailing tall ships through gale force winds – and has even ‘bio-hacked’ her own body to create ‘Dianne 2.0’. By using leading edge thinking and technology, she has reversed vision impairment, improved bone mass, turned back the ageing process, increased cognitive function and more!

Her primary passion, however, revolves around reducing food waste. A member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, this highly creative problem solver is one of Australia’s leading food sustainability experts and has been on the board of several related organisations. From leading the team behind the Commonwealth’s consumer energy information platforms to developing national disaster response protocols, Dianne understands the importance of collaboration, foresight, and working on behalf of others.
Not only does she hold a total of five tertiary qualifications, but three of those degrees (including her most recent environment engineering PhD) are focused entirely on sustainability, waste and closed loop food systems. She has worked with organisations across the globe to improve their environmental footprint. In an era where our climate is changing, and energy, materials, transportation, buildings, food systems, our land and our oceans are at risk, Dianne helps people create the positive changes needed for themselves, their businesses and our planet.

On top of everything else, she even made it into the final 100 candidates worldwide who were shortlisted for the Mars One voyage before the project was discontinued, which would have seen her leave this planet never to return.

Luckily for us however, Dianne is still here on earth and able to share her expansive wisdom as both an educator and environmental champion. Not only is she a stellar keynote speaker who can inspire anybody from school children to space scientists, but she lives a sustainably embodied life to demonstrate that individually, as organisations and in our communities, we can have a collective positive impact across the pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental and social. She strives to make a difference in this world like no one we have ever seen before, and her resilient mind-set and process for investigating unfathomable opportunities is unmatched.

Dr Dianne McGrath CMP CSP BEd (sec), GD Marketing, GD EnvMgt, GD SustPrac embodies exploring beyond what is thought impossible. Right when we think she has just about done it all, she faces up to a new challenge of an even grander scale. By circumnavigating our world in the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race, she hopes to share our planet’s stories, inspire us to act, and strive to make a collective impact. As one of the most incredible and inspiring people to walk the earth (and sail the seas!) today, we are thrilled to partner up with her on her journey as both a global circumnavigator and educator to share her lessons, experiences and enduring message of resilience and hope.

Good luck on your journey Dr Dianne, we can’t wait to share your passion every step of the way!

Find out more about Dr Dianne McGrath Contact ICMI for Info