Mina Guli


Mina Guli is an Australian businesswomen, active in the environmental sector. She is CEO of Thirst.

Early life and education

Guli was born in Mount Waverly, a suburb of Melbourne. She attended secondary school at Presbyterian Ladies’ College and went on to attain a Law degre and Bachelor of Science at Monash University and a Masters in Law in 1999 from The University of Melbourne.. In 1993 Guli was elected as president of the Monash University Student Union.
At the age of 22 Guli broke her back in a swimming pool accident and was told by her doctors that she would never run again.

Career

After graduation Guli worked as a lawyer in the private sector in the area of energy and infrastructure.. In 1999 she moved to the Sydney Futures Exchange, where she was involved in the development of Australia's carbon emission markets. In 2002 she was asked to join the World Bank, and assisted in developing carbon trading projects in China, India, Nepal and Indonesia. She returned to the private sector in 2005 and continued her work in the area of renewable energy and climate change in the Chinese market.

Thirst

In 2012 Guli founded Thirst, out of her own pocket, a group promoting saving water by educating young people. Thirst launched on World Water Day with two education workshops of 1000 students each. It has conducted on campus education programs for more than 40,000 children in Chinese schools and universities, and 300,000 young people at workshops, events and music festivals. It has established 120 student clubs in 12 provinces across China, and created online communities in popular media. In an attempt to raise awareness of water shortage challenges, Guli attempted to run 100 marathons in 100 days but was forced to stop on day 63 with a fracture in her femur.

Other positions

Guli is the former deputy chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, a strategic advisor to the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Sustainable Consumption, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders community, and a member of the Young Presidents Organisation.

Awards

Guli was selected by Advance Australia as one of the 50 leading Australians in Asia and is the recipient of a Future Leadership Award from the Australia Davos Connection.
In 2010 she was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and in 2011 named as one of Australia’s “50 for the future”.
Fortune world's greatest 50 leaders list 2016.
In October 2019 Guli was named one of The Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence in the Global category.