Dona Bertarelli is a philanthropist, ocean advocate and investor, as well as the fastest woman to sail around the world. She is a Patron of Nature of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), chair of Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, and co-chair of the Bertarelli Foundation. She has been deeply committed to impactful philanthropy over three decades, from improving public understanding of reproductive health and infertility, and advocating for ocean protection and environmental conservation, to education and social causes. Through the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy she works to advance ocean conservation, for the benefit of the communities which rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. She is the founder of Global Fishing Watch Marine Manager. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Friends of Ocean Action, and a founding patron of Womanity Foundation. She previously served as the Special Adviser for the Blue Economy to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where she promoted a sustainable and regenerative blue economy. Her work in ocean conservation has been recognized with a number of international distinctions and honours. In a joint initiative of the IUCN, International Olympic Committee (IOC), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, the Sports for Nature Framework was launched in 2022, and aims at delivering transformative nature positive actions across sports for the protection and restoration of biodiversity. As an investor, with assets in hospitality and real estate, she focuses on long-term value creation. She believes strongly in the power of business to do good for society and drove the development of the family pharmaceutical business Serono’s philanthropy and educational programmes, when she served as Executive Director, Public and Professional Affairs from 1992 to 1997. A keen sportswoman and sailor, Dona Bertarelli has won prestigious races and broken records both inshore and offshore, winning the Bol d’Or Mirabaud in 2010 and 2014, as well as two Fastnet races. She co-founded Sails of Change, a professional sailing team, alongside her husband, Yann Guichard, who is a renowned French skipper. In the winter of 2015-16, she was helmsman-trimmer aboard the world’s largest maxi-trimaran, as the team attempted sailing’s ultimate challenge, the Jules Verne Trophy. Although the team narrowly missed beating the record, Dona became the fastest woman to sail around the world.