Kim McKay

Kim McKays "international career in social marketing, communications and corporate partnerships spans 25 years and every continent. She is currently a partner in Momentum2, a Sydney based social marketing consultancy she co-founded with Jenny Bonnin working on local and global projects for National Geographic Society among other clients.

"In 2004 she returned to Australia after six 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.

"In 1989, while serving as managing director of Profile Communications, Kim co-founded Clean Up Australia with Ian Kiernan, AO with whom she had worked for many years. She has served as Deputy Chair from 1989 to present, helping direct the growth of the organisation. Today, Clean Up Australia is the largest community environmental project in Australia.

"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 volunteers. She also continues as Deputy Chair of Clean Up the World.

"Kim still regards the inaugural Clean Up the Harbour Day on January 8, 1989 as one of the most memorable and satisfying days of her life. "It was incredibe to see what 'people power' could achieve - the volunteer community spirit was alive and well around Sydney Harbour on that spectacularly beautiful day and the efforts of ordinary Australians help put the issues of water and waste management on the wider community agenda," Kim says.

"In addition to her Board roles at Clean Up Australia/Clean Up the World, Kim is on the steering committee of the Business Leader's Forum on Sustainable Development, an advisory board member of the EYE Foundation, a board member of the Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and a communications advisory board member of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

"She was a member of the community relations committee for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Bid and has sat on a variety of other non-profit boards and directed community projects..

"Throughout her career, McKay has earned numerous Golden Target Awards from the Public Relations Institute of Australia; an honorary mention from the United Nations for Excellence in Communications for the Clean Up the World campaign; a Golden World Award for Excellence in Environmental Communication from the International Public Relations Association and an Avon Spirit of Achievement Award presented in the Environment category.

"She is a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia and graduated in 1980 from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) with a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) majoring in journalism, public relations and sociology.

"She has lived in Australia, UK, Morocco, Argentina and the USA for extended periods and speaks regularly at conferences on social marketing, public communications and corporate partnership issues.

"Kim is passionate about creating a sustainable environment for Australia and the world. She is the co-author with Jenny Bonnin of True Green - 100 Everyday Ways You Can Contribute to a Healthier Planet, to be published by ABC Books in November, 2006."

"Since 2004, Kim has co-created The Genographic Project for National Geographic with population geneticist, Dr. Spencer Wells. 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 250,000 test kits have been sold helping fund the Genographic Project’s Legacy Fund to benefit cultural preservation and education projects in indigenous communities around the world."