PROFILE
Some people are defined by what happens to them. Gill Hicks is defined by what she chose to do next.
Born in Adelaide, Hicks moved to London in the 1990’s, building a distinguished career in the Arts, firstly as Publishing Director of architectural magazine Blueprint, Founding Director of design practice, Dangerous Minds and then as a Head Curator with the UK Government’s Design Council. Hers was a life built on ideas, aesthetic form, and ambition.
On the morning of 7 July 2005, everything changed.
A bomb was deliberately detonated in the London Underground train carriage she was travelling in. Gill’s injuries were so severe that paramedics couldn’t gain her identify or gender. The last person to be rescued alive from the aftermath, she was given a tag that chillingly read: ‘One Unknown – estimated female’. Both her legs were severed below the knee. She was not expected to live.
In those darkest moments, she made a vow to survive and to make a difference. It is a vow she has never broken.
Today, Gill channels that experience through The M.A.D. Creative Agency, working at the intersection of lived experience, design thinking, and storytelling to build empathy and challenge division and extremism. Her podcast and unique enterprise model, M.A.D. For Life, reflects her passion and awe of the brilliance of the Human body and her quest for Being Well; exploring what it means to thrive in mind, body, and soul. She brings thought leaders, innovators, and practitioners together to respond to her Seven Pillars of Health design framework.
Her first book, One Unknown, published by Pan MacMillan, was shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year and her story has been adapted for the stage, media and some of the world’s most significant conference platforms. She holds awards and honorary doctorates from London Metropolitan University, Kingston University, and the University of South Australia, and was recognised with an AM for significant service to peace, alongside her MBE for contributions to British public life.
Gill Hicks is a testimony to what it means to choose humanity over hatred, proof that one person, committed to making a difference, can truly change the world.
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