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. In 2022, Mina founded Run Blue, a global campaign dedicated to solving the water crisis.

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.

Mina has taken stories and messages from the frontlines of the water crisis and has shared them with governments and corporates across the world including at international fora such as COP and the UN Climate Summits. She gets to people’s hearts and minds – and changes them.

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. Her mission didn’t end there; 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. These marathons were part of Run Blue I.

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 50 greatest leaders in the world. In recognition of her incredible achievements, Mina received YPO Global Impact and Innovation Awards and was named a “Global Visionary” by UBS.

Currently, Mina and her team are 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, as healthy rivers are central to tackling the greatest crises of our era.

I decided to go on to make it my life's work to help solve the global water crisis.

I launched the non-profit Thirst in March 2012 which became a movement that would stretch across China. Thirst has now reached well over a million kids, parents, teachers, and government officials.

I realised that I needed to do more and took on a challenge issued by me to the YGL community – creating a stunt that would capture the world’s attention about the global water crisis. My ultra-running campaign for water was born.

In March 2016, I finished running 40 marathons across seven deserts on seven continents in seven weeks. It was a world first. I was amazed to be named on Fortune's list of the 50 greatest leaders in the world.

Today, I am honoured to have brought inspirational stories from the front lines of the water crisis to people around the world. 

I now believe that every single one of us can make a difference.