Kim McKay AO

With a career spanning more than 25 years, Kim McKay AO has worked across media, marketing, communications, public advocacy and sustainability, building a reputation as one of Australia’s most influential environmental communicators. A highly skilled storyteller and entrepreneurial leader, Kim has created, led and managed visionary, large-scale projects in Australia and internationally, all driven by a deep belief that everyone can make a difference.   

Kim has worked consistently in support of the local and global environment for over two decades. She first rose to national prominence as the co-founder of Clean Up Australia and later Clean Up the World with Ian Kiernan AO. Today, Clean Up Australia is the one of the nation’s largest community environmental initiatives, while Clean Up the World operates in more than 120 countries, engaging  over 30 million participants each year. Community action, citizen science and environmental stewardship have been defining themes throughout her career.

Kim is currently Director and CEO of the Australian Museum, Australia’s first museum and one of the country’s most significant cultural and scientific institutions. Appointed to the role in 2014 as the first woman in the Museum’s 190-plus-year history, Kim has led a major period of transformation, including Project Discover, the Museum’s $57.5 million, award-winning redevelopment of public spaces, and the stewardship of a collection exceeding 22 million natural science specimens and cultural objects.

Previously, Kim served as Managing Director of Momentum2, a social and sustainability marketing and communications consultancy, delivering local and global projects for organisations including the National Geographic Society, Qantas and Harpo Productions. She also spent several years working in the United States in senior roles with Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channels International, before returning to Australia in 2004.

Kim is the co-author, with Jenny Bonnin, of five books in the internationally published True Green series. True Green Kids won one of the United States’ most prestigious children's science book awards, the AAAS/Subaru Book Prize for Best Hands-On Science Book, and was featured Science Magazine. She is also a regular media commentator on practical environmental action and has appeared as a panellist on ABC TV's top-rating show Gruen, MC'd Oprah Winfrey's only Australian media conference, presented on-camera ‘True Green Tips' for Sky News, co-authored a weekly ‘True Green' column for the Sunday Telegraph ‘Body and Soul' newspaper, presented a weekly True Green spot for ABC regional radio in NSW, and was named in G Magazine's Top 20 Australian Eco Heros list (2009). 

Kim’s career has been shaped by adventure, exploration and environmental storytelling. She was a project manager on all four BOC Challenge solo round-the-world yacht races, a media representative on the APSA World Pro Surfing tour, Executive Director of the Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge in Australia, Morocco and Argentina, and a contributor to National Geographic research and filming expeditions to Peru, Egypt and India. She also co-created National Geographic’s Genographic Project with Dr Spencer Wells, one of the organisation’s largest global research initiatives, tracing human migration over 60,000 years. 

Kim has served on numerous not-for-profit boards and advisory committees across science, culture and sustainability, including roles with CSIRO's ECOS Magazine, the Australian Museum, the Sydney Institute of Marine Science Foundation, RANZCO Eye Foundation, the National Business Leader's Forum on Sustainable Development, and the Genographic Project Legacy Fund. She is also an Advisory Board member and Ambassador for the 1 Million Women campaign and serves on the University of Technology Sydney Council.   

In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the environment, science and the community, Kim was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2008. She has also received multiple honours, including the University of Technology, Sydney Chancellor's Award for Excellence, the highest honour awarded to a former Alumni, an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Wollongong in 2022, and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Technology Sydney in 2023. Additionally, to mark the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day (2011), Kim was included in the Westpac-sponsored book ‘The Power of 100...One hundred Women who have shaped Australia'.

As a speaker, Kim brings together decades of lived experience across leadership, sustainability, science and communication. Her presentations are informed, engaging and deeply human, leaving audiences inspired to think differently, act boldly and play their part in shaping a more sustainable future.