Mark Pollock

Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark Pollock became an adventure athlete competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps, and he was the first blind person to race to the South Pole. He also won silver and bronze medals for rowing at the Commonwealth Games, and established a motivational speaking business.

In 2010, a fall from a second-story window left Pollock paralyzed after breaking his back and damaging his spinal cord. He is now exploring the frontiers of spinal cord injury recovery, combining innovative electrical stimulators with hundreds of thousands of steps in his Ekso Bionics robotic legs. Through his role as Chairman of Collaborative Cures, and the Mark Pollock Trust, he is on a mission to find and connect people around the world to fast-track a cure for paralysis, having catalyzed over $100 million in efforts towards this cause.

Selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and appointed to the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement, Pollock is on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (USA) and is a Wings for Life Ambassador (Europe). He has authored the book "Making It Happen" and is the subject of the acclaimed documentaries "Blind Man Walking" and "Unbreakable – The Mark Pollock Story." Pollock is also the co-founder of the global running series called "Run in the Dark." He has been awarded honorary doctorates by The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast. Additionally, he holds a diploma in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century from Harvard University, and degrees from Trinity College Dublin and The Smurfit Business School. Pollock has spoken at over 300 organizations worldwide, including significant corporate events for companies like Google, Citrix, and Pfizer, sharing his insights on resilience, leadership, and overcoming adversity.