Kath Koschel is a former cricketer and Ironman competitor who broke her back twice and was told she would never walk again. Instead, defied all medical prognosis by teaching herself to walk again. In the midst of these harrowing experiences, Kath experienced two things in large amounts – adversity and kindness. After re-learning to walk, Kath began a two-month journey around Australia relying solely on the kindness of strangers – no cash, credit card food or water – and no help from family or friends. Driven by a passion to spread gratitude and kindness in the world, she founded Kindness Factory™ with the goal of encouraging one million acts of kindness. To date, Kindness Factory has recorded over 8 million acts of kindness and is now a registered not-for-profit in three countries. An internationally sought after speaker and author of Kindness the book, Kath has worked with and consulted to some of the biggest and most well-known companies and brands in the world to help them achieve perspective, resilience, good culture, wellbeing and of course, kindness. In 2025, Kath was named the NSW Australian of the Year and in 2017, was awarded the Pride of Australia Medal for courage in overcoming extreme adversity.