Dame Ellen MacArthur

Ellen MacArthur made yachting history in 2005, when she became the fastest solo sailor to circumnavigate the globe, and remains the UK’s most successful offshore racer ever. Having become aware of the finite nature of the resources our linear economy relies upon, she stepped away from professional sailing to launch the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2010, which works with education and business to accelerate the transition to a regenerative circular economy. She sits on the European Commission’s Resource Efficiency Platform and in her role as a circular economy leader regularly interacts with governments and international institutions. Her Foundation has published three seminal macro-economic reports featuring analysis by McKinsey, which have received accolades at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Dame Ellen has received the French Legion of Honour and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.