Guest Speaker Hanli Prinsloo grew up on a horse farm outside Johannesburg, South Africa. The closest ocean was over 10 hours away and she loved being underwater – so her and her sister dreamt of being mermaids in the pool, in the river, in the dam, in the bath. This was all inevitable.
Now Hanli spends her days exploring, loving and protecting our oceans. The blue lifeblood of our beautiful planet. Our only planet.
She is the founder of the I AM WATER Foundation and co-founder of I AM WATER Ocean Travel. She lives, works and travels with her partner Peter who has taken many of the underwater images Hanli shares.
Apart from her over thirteen years of competitive freediving and 11 national records, Hanli has a background in documentary filmmaking which has taken her into the front-lines of social political conflict all over Africa, from Burundi to Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe to name a few. Hanli is a strong believer in the greatness of the human spirit under the toughest of circumstances, having seen beauty and hope flourish where least expected.
Her experiences underwater inspired her to found the I AM WATER Foundation, where Ocean Conservation Through Human Experience is in the spotlight. Through her sport Hanli has trained an array of corporate clients to world-class athletes; working with mental toughness, mind over body control and mindfulness.
She is a Young Global Leader under the World Economic Forum as well as a Dangote Fellow.
Recent motivational speaking clients & events include:
World Economic Forum Annual Summit panellist, Davos, Switzerland
UBS Global Philanthropy Forum keynote, St Moritz, Switzerland
Impact Roundtable keynote for Credit Suisse, Lisbon, Portugal
Merrill Lynch / Bank of America Johannesburg & London keynote, UK
Adidas – MC, keynote & workshops, Los Angeles & Cape Town
Condé Nast Traveller, London ‘Travellers Tales’ in collaboration with La Mer, UK
Emerge Conference keynote, SAID Business School Oxford, UK
Wildscreen Film Festival keynote Bristol, UK
Athleta / The Gap, San Francisco keynote & #powerofshe campaign, USA
Steppes Beyond Travel Festival keynote, RGS London, UK
Western Academy of Beijing lecture, Beijing China
Liberty Group keynote, Johannesburg, South Africa
Murray & Roberts keynote, Johannesburg, South Africa
UCT Graduate School of Business lecture, South Africa
Old Mutual keynote series, South Africa
TEDx Bermuda – The Aquatic Mammal
TEDxSeaPoint – Every good story is a Love Story
… amongst others.
Hanli is fluent and does presentations in English, Swedish and Afrikaans.
