SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Robyn Benincasa is a World Champion Adventure Racer, award-winning motivational speaker, 3x Guinness World Record kayaker, San Diego firefighter, 10x Ironman triathlete, New York Times bestselling author, proud owner of two bionic metal hips, and the Founder and CEO of The 501c3 Project Athena Foundation, which helps survivors live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery.

For the past 20 years, Robyn and her teammates have studied team building, leadership and performance in the most extreme classrooms on Earth:  the jungles of Borneo, the Himalayan peaks of Tibet, the rivers of Fiji, the rainforests of Ecuador, and the epic brush fires of Southern California (just to name a few)!  It is through these harrowing, life affirming, and often hilarious experiences that Robyn has emerged with her unique perspective on what it takes to succeed against all odds and go the distance in any endeavor.

Through her inspirational keynotes and team building adventures, Robyn has helped Fortune 500 companies including Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Northrup, Siemens, Napster, Nestle, and Hewlett Packard to bring out the world class team builder, leader and peak performer in their employees.

NBC, ABC, CNN, ESPN, USA Network, The Discovery Channel, the Today Show, Live With Regis, Dateline NBC, Vogue, Sports Illustrated, Harpers Bazaar, Fast Company, Runners World, and Outside Magazine have all featured Robyn and teams’ amazing ability to Adapt, Overcome, and Win as ONE in times of great challenge and change.

In her New York Times bestselling book, How Winning Works, Robyn shares the essential team building and leadership skills that she and her teammates discovered on their quest to win “the toughest races on Earth”. It isn’t just a book about succeeding at work—it’s a field guide for being a winner in all areas of life. How Winning Works takes readers on an unforgettable adventure and guides them step by step over the finish line to success.

In 2014, Robyn was named a CNN Hero for the Project Athena Foundation. Project Athena is a 501c3 non-profit foundation that helps women who have endured life-altering medical setbacks live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery. Robyn was inspired to start the foundation as a result of her own medical challenge—two total hip replacements. “I’m honored to be chosen a CNN Hero,” she says, “but the Athenas (Survivors) who reach their recovery goal of a Project Athena adventure are the true heroes. The mission of the foundation is to put Athenas in a position to inspire and amaze themselves—to be the very best they are today.”

In her spare time, Robyn’s favorite hobby is inspiring people to do insane, life affirming things like run their first triathlon, start their own business, hike the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, or kayak and ride 100 miles from Key Largo to Key West. This is, after all, who she is and what she does: Robyn inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and create that special magic that allows each of us to become better and stronger together than we would ever be alone.