Mark Quattrocchi

Now, more than ever, it is vital that we connect with one another in meaningful ways. Mark’s incredible journey cycling around the world, from China back to Canada, spanned 40 countries and five continents. Rooted in this life-changing experience, Mark shares how simple human connections can change the way we see the world. Many of us, at one point or another, have likely been sitting beside someone we didn’t know on a bus, plane or train and wanted to say something but never did. And yet by overcoming our fear and opening with “Hello” we can make the world a little more friendly and knock down negative stereotypes in the process. On his journey around the world, Mark was the humble recipient of over 250 acts of kindness. These were the moments that helped him feel at home so far from Canada. Now, he looks to pay forward his experiences and give others the tools to pursue their dreams.

In this humbling and relatable talk, Mark shares how audiences of all ages can start taking the steps to make the world a better place by acting today. In June 2014, Mark set out on one of the most ambitious global adventures, cycling from China across the world to Canada. Before coming to work as a motivational speaker, Mark was a teacher and passionate about education, so he wanted to do more with his journey than biking from country to country. Mark decided to use his journey to fundraise to build schools in developing countries around the world. He volunteered in communities along the way and in the end fundraised to build five schools. During his journey, Mark connected with people throughout the world and listened to the incredible stories of challenge and accomplishment. These showed Mark the power each of us has inside to enact and play a role in creating positive change. Through stories of his struggles from the road as well as modern day and historic examples of change.