Gill Hicks is considered to be one of the most thought provoking, powerful and life affirming speakers in Australia and the UK. She is globally known as a survivor of the London terrorist Bombings on July 7th, 2005.
She survived, but suffered severe and permanent injuries, losing both legs from just below the knee.
Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Gill has lived in London since 1991, however in 2012 Gill returned to Australia where she operates nationally and internationally through her not for profit M.A.D. for Peace network and her Public Speaking work.
Her unique and compelling projects and initiative’s, aimed at both deterring anyone from following the path of violent extremism and building sustainable models for peace, draw upon Gill’s previous roles within the Arts.
An impressive career, pre the bombings, included being at the helm of some of the UK’s most prestigious and respected institutions – including Publishing Director of the architecture, design and contemporary culture magazine, Blueprint, Director of the Dangerous Minds design consultancy and Head Curator at the Design Council. It wasn’t until after the bombings that Gill decided to dedicate her life to being an advocate for peace.
Gill has made it her mission to use her experiences and her new body form to positive effect.
In 2007 Gill founded the not for profit organisation M.A.D. for Peace, a platform that connects people globally and encourages ‘us’ to think of Peace as a Verb, something that we have an individual responsibility to ‘do’ every day.
In 2008, Gill released her 1st book entitled One Unknown, named after the chilling label given to her as she arrived to hospital as an unidentified body.
Her book received fantastic reviews and as a major recognition it was shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year Awards (2008).
With honours, and impressive achievements Gill has demonstrated her commitment to making a personal difference. To name just a few of these accolades; being selected to carry the 2008 Olympic Torch in Canberra, being recognised with an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List (2008-09) for her services to charity, becoming both the Australian of the Year in the UK and Australian Woman of the Year in UK for 2009, receiving two Honorary Doctorate’s, one in Philosophy from the London Metropolitan University, recognising her contribution to architecture and design and her work promoting the importance of establishing sustainable peace, the other from Kingston University in recognition to her dedication to rehabilitative health.
Since her return to Australia in 2012, she has been recognised as South Australian, Australian of the Year 2015 and is Chair to the Innovation component for the Committee for Adelaide.
In 2013 Gill welcomed her daughter, Amelie into the world. This, as she describes it, is her finest achievement and greatest acknowledgement of the brilliance and resilience of the human body.
