Hi, I’m Kirrily Dear.

I learned the secrets of courage as a kid.

As a child, my heart was always at our family farm in the remote Mt Royal Ranges NSW, Australia. Pictured with me is my first horse, a stallion called Peppy who was among my first and greatest teachers of courage.  

There in that wild isolation I learned to follow my imagination and to be self-reliant. Mountains don’t care about age, gender, or your beliefs.  They tested me regardless of whether I was ready or not. I didn’t get to choose the circumstances of those challenges, only how I responded.  

From then on, I became obsessed with testing my limits.

I played sport across multiple disciplines and achieved the highest award of the Girl Guide movement. I became the first female in my family’s history to secure a university degree.

As a young professional, I would often be the only woman in the room, being seen and heard in places where others didn’t dare. 

I hungered for goals and moments that were new to me. If I could also claim I was the first person to do something (no matter how obscure) I obsessed with making it happen.

I learned neuroscience and pushed it in extreme situations.

I studied Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in my early 30s to get a better handle on how to use my mind to its greatest advantage.

I could see patterns in the way I responded to certain situations, and studying NLP gave me the words and concepts to describe those experiences. With that knowledge came the power to shift my performance to new levels.  

At 38, I became a couch-to-1300km runner.

I took up running as a sport at 38 and set myself the goal of running 10 km.  I wanted to get fit and improve my mental wellbeing.  Just under 18 months later, I toed the start line of my first 100km race.

During a decade of running, I racked up more than 20 x 100km+ ultramarathon races and dozens of unsupported, independent trail ultras. I set a few fastest known times and carved new trails.

In 2017, I became the first woman on record to run across my home state of New South Wales, covering 1300km (32 marathons) in 19 days.

At 42, I gained my first non-executive directorship.

I established my first business at 30, driving innovation and growth for over 400 companies across 80 sectors.

My ability to deliver strategic change gained me a position on the NSW board of the Australian Institute of Management.  I was the youngest person appointed to the board in its 90-year history.

I also served as a non-executive director for Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) before focusing on establishing Run Against Violence.

At 44, I established Run Against Violence.

In 2013, a child walked up to me and described the violence they lived with at home. The details were confronting, but the tone of the child’s voice shook me to the core.  They spoke as if it was an accepted and standard life experience.

When a child speaks to you of the unspeakable, you don’t walk away and do nothing.  I made a soul commitment to use my skills to carve a new path for the future of our communities. I dedicated my life to the upstream prevention of family violence.

Now, I’m leading communities to achieve Zero DFV™.

I’m driving innovation in preventing DFV as a nation, putting healthy relationships at the core of a whole-of-community framework. Our mission is to build communities where family violence can no longer exist.

Click Collab™ is my latest innovation. It supports local domestic and family violence (DFV) prevention efforts to work together on a shared plan for progress.

Many people have told me that Zero DFV™ is unachievable. Fortunately, I thrive on making the ‘impossible’ happen.