Marin Minamiya – Keynote Speaker

Marin Minamiya is the youngest person in the world to complete the Explorers Grand Slam. The Explorers Grand Slam is an adventurers challenge to reach the North Pole, South Pole and the highest summit of each of the seven continents.

She achieved this feat in April 2017 after she started the first challenge in 2015. She completed the Explorers Grand Slam in slightly over two years.

Marin Minamiya moved to Malaysia when she was 18 months old due to her father’s job. She lived abroad for 12 years living in Shanghai and Hong Kong. She started climbing mountains at age 13 in Hong Kong and still has vivid memories of when she looked down from the summit of her first hike. The scenery of the coexistence of Hong Kong’s concrete jungle and the mountains were so beautiful and special that made her become obsessed in climbing.

In 2014, Marin Minamiya received “The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Gold Award”, an award which is to recognize young people that will lead the people.

Most recently in Japan, she was selected as one of the “Change makers of the year 2016”.

Also in December 2016, she was appointed as the first female Global Brand Ambassador of UNIQLO.

“Where there is passion and will, there is not a dream that can be fulfilled! A dream that has been meticulously calculated, eventually becomes a project… Through my future projects, I sincerely want to make the world a better place for all life. I hope more people in the world come to realise that life is full of opportunities and that the key to all possibilities is within themselves.”