Samantha Gash

Samantha Gash Speaker Biography

Nothing can stop Samantha Gash armed with the philosophy, if you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something that you’ve never done.

An accomplished lawyer working for the largest international law firm in the world, Samantha traded in her heels for running shoes and went out to change the world through highly collaborative social impact campaigns. With true grit, unrelenting focus and the willingness to create the next best plan in the face of chaos and change, she has created lasting impact.

Samantha was the first woman and the youngest person at the time, to complete the Four Deserts Grand Slam - one of the world’s toughest endurance competitions that span 625miles across the hottest, coldest, driest and windiest deserts on earth. She was the third female to complete the "cruelest ultramarathon on earth" - La Ultra the High, a 138mile nonstop run across the highest motorable pass in India, which peaked at 20,000 feet above sea level. She has also run solo for 3 days 14 hours and 28 minutes nonstop across Australia's Simpson Desert.

After years of pushing her mental and physical boundaries, she now uses running as a vehicle for social change through advocacy; peer to peer fundraising and integrated digital campaigns. In 2014, Samantha co-founded Freedom Runners - an initiative that combined a fundraising and awareness campaign around the high cost of feminine hygiene products for women in Sub-Saharan Africa and its link to female absenteeism in school. Over 32 days she ran 1222 miles across South Africa’s rugged Freedom Trail, navigating her way through river crossings, mountain ranges, thick bamboo, and wildlife. $55K was raised for a Save the Children initiative.

In 2016, she became a Goodwill Ambassador for World Vision and used her growing platform and endurance experience to raise awareness of the barriers to quality education for Indian children. 2040miles, 77 days and $150K later, she did just that.

She is featured in two award-winning documentaries - Desert Runners and Run India; was a delegate for the Australia and India Youth Dialogue conference; has a publishing contract with Macmillan; is a Pride of Australia nominee and a finalist in the Women’s Agenda leadership awards in the Agenda Setter category.

Samantha uses authentic storytelling and dramatic documentary footage to share her journey through life. She is an inspiring change leader and will guide your team through managing industry disruption and learning to become comfortable in the discomfort in an engaging and memorable way.