Economics speaker Ellen MacArthur became the fastest solo sailor to sail around the world in 2005. She is one of the most successful offshore racers in the United Kingdom. Ellen has won several prizes, including the Route du Rhum, and the Ostar. At the age of 24, she came second at the Vendée Globe.

Due to her growing realization that our linear economy’s resource base is exhaustible, Ellen decided to leave professional sailing. This was to create the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works closely with business and education to speed up the transition to a restorative circular economy.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was launched in 2010 and since then it has established itself as a worldwide leader in the circular economy. Several organizations, including People’s Postcode Lottery, MAVA, and SYSTEMIQ, support the foundation.

The foundation’s work focuses on five key areas: business and government, learning, systemic initiatives, insight and analysis, and communication.

Speaker Ellen MacArthur is truly an inspirational individual since she also founded the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. The charity collaborates with hospitals in the United Kingdom to provide sailing lessons to children and young adults aged 8 to 24. This is to help those who underwent treatment for leukemia, cancer, as well as other illnesses, gain their confidence back.

At the moment, Ellen is a member of the European Commission’s Resource Efficiency Platform. Furthermore, her Foundation has produced two important macro-economic studies, both of which included McKinsey analysis. These macro-economic studies have earned high praise at Davos’ World Economic Forum. Ellen MacArthur works with a variety of European institutions and governments. In 2005, Queen Elizabeth knighted Ellen. Moreover, in 2008, President Nicolas Sarkozy gave Ellen the French Legion of Honour.