Robyn Benincasa

When the challenges are steep, and the competition fierce, Robyn Benincasa provides individuals and organizations the tools they need to inspire themselves and one another to their greatest heights and to cross their most challenging finish lines.

For the last 20 years, she and her teammates have been competing at the front of the pack in the most unique and compelling classrooms on earth: The jungles of Borneo, the Himalayan peaks of Tibet, the rivers of Fiji, the rainforests of Ecuador, and the deserts of Namibia, studying the good, the bad, and the not-so-pretty of Extreme Teamwork. It is through these harrowing, life-affirming, and often hilarious experiences in the world's most grueling challenges that she has emerged with her truly unique perspective on what it takes to build the kind of world-class teams that succeed against all odds, triumph in the face of adversity, and win as one in times of great challenge and change. Benincasa accepts full blame for inspiring people to do insane things like climb Mount Kilimanjaro, run their first triathlon, start their own adventure racing teams, hike across the Grand Canyon with a group of Survivors, or start their own businesses. This is, after all, who she is and what she does: Benincasa inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and to create that special magic that makes all of us better TOGETHER than we ever would have been alone!

Benincasa has made an art form of extreme performance by competing and winning at the highest levels of sport and business; her keynotes are powerful, impactful, and packed with practical, real-world takeaways that inspire peak performance and exceptional leadership. As a 20+ year veteran San Diego firefighter, a World Champion Adventure Racer, a 2014 CNN Hero, a Guinness World Record Endurance Kayaker, a best-selling author, and founder of The Project Athena Foundation, Benincasa definitely knows a thing or two about creating Human Synergy, or as Benincasa puts it, "That magic that allows groups of ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things together."

Known as an inspirational force for leadership, team building, and extreme performance, her award-winning and game-changing keynotes have earned Benincasa accolades as one of 2020s World’s Top 50 Keynote Speakers (Real Leaders Magazine), the #1 Female Speaker for Meetings.net, and is one of the Top 10 Speakers featured by Harvard Business Review. For the past 15 years, Benincasa’s keynotes have motivated countless teams and received rave reviews from user groups, associations, and Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, Starbucks, Walmart, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, HubSpot, Intel, and more.

Benincasa’s multi-faceted experience inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and achieve audacious goals that they could never accomplish alone. She is the expert that companies call on to build world-class teams, inspire peak performance, and create a culture of champions. Benincasa has successfully translated the lessons learned from extreme team sports to the corporate world, with compelling keynotes that show how groups of ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things together.

Grab ahold of your seats! Benincasa’s incredible stories and breathtaking footage of extreme teams in action is an invigorating thrill ride that will leave you energized.