Benjamin Von Wong didn’t set out to influence UN treaty negotiations. He was a hard-rock mining engineer until a personal turning point pushed him to pick up a camera and start experimenting with photography. Those early experiments eventually evolved into the large-scale environmental art projects he’s now known for, including a Guinness World Record sculpture made from 168,000 plastic straws, a four-story faucet spilling plastic waste onto the front lawn of the United Nations during global plastics treaty talks, and a six-meter-tall “Biodiversity Jenga” tower displayed at the UN Biodiversity Conference for delegates from more than 190 countries.

A simple idea drives Benjamin’s work: if you want people to care about an issue, you have to make them curious first.

He creates what he calls “visual interruptions” — bold, unexpected installations that stop people in their tracks and spark conversation. His work has helped individuals, organizations, academics, and governments reframe complex issues like plastic pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, and the systems behind them in ways that feel human, accessible, and actionable.

On stage, Benjamin isn’t an activist with all the answers. He speaks as someone who had to invent his own path — learning how to persuade institutions, mobilize communities, collaborate with scientists, push through setbacks, and translate overwhelming, complex systems into stories that actually move people. His talks resonate with audiences navigating uncertainty, transformation, or mission-driven work, including sustainability and ESG teams, innovators, marketers, creative leaders, funders, and students trying to figure out how to make their contribution matter.

His core message is disarmingly hopeful: you don’t need to be the hero who saves the world. You need to lean into being the best version of yourself, and use what you uniquely bring to create change where you are.

Ideal for audiences looking to:
• Reimagine sustainability or ESG work through compelling storytelling
• Inspire teams to think creatively about complex or “boring” problems
• Learn how to build coalitions and community around mission-driven projects
• Move from overwhelm to practical, meaningful engagement

Key themes include:
• Viewing crisis as opportunity
• Ikigai as a journey, not a destination
• Why the 10,000-hour rule is a lie
• The role of human creativity in the age of AI
• How acts of micro-bravery shape careers, leadership, and impact