Friday, October 3, 2025
Run Like A Girl, a powerful new memoir by Catherine McKenna, Canada’s former Minister of Environment and Climate Change, was published on September 23, 2025.
From Olympic dreams to the frontlines of politics and climate action, Run Like A Girl charts McKenna’s personal and political journey—from leading Canada’s climate plan to withstanding sexist attacks as “Climate Barbie.” Through a unique scrapbook-style format, McKenna blends candid personal stories, political insights, and reflections on motherhood, ambition, and activism. McKenna recounts her fight for climate policy, the ups and downs of public service, the tough decision to leave politics, and her mission to empower women in leadership.
An inspiring account of reinvention, resilience and defiance in the face of expectations, Run Like A Girl captures McKenna’s decision to step away from politics and her new mission to support women in leadership and fight for climate justice around the globe.
“Run Like A Girl is about embracing the messiness of life and having the courage to run your own race—even when it’s hard, even when the path isn’t clear,” says McKenna. “I didn’t plan to write a memoir, especially not one with pictures and swim caps and stories about burnout and Barbie insults. Life has taught me that if you want to make change, you have to show up. Faking it and trying to meet the expectations of others is no way to live or make a difference. This book is my way of being honest about politics, parenting, and pushing for something better. I hope it inspires young women to run like a girl too.”
La ministre de l’infrastructure et des communautés annonce une nouvelle Initiative Communautés en Santé Canada, près du pont pédestre Flora, à Ottawa, en Ontario, le jeudi 13 août 2020.
“This is a bold, hopeful book for the next generation of changemakers written by someone who knows what it means to stand up, speak out, and keep going.”
– Mary Robinson, First woman president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
“This book, like its author, is a game changer. McKenna’s engaging and audacious mix of words and pictures offers a behind-the scenes view on how a leader is made, in baby steps and giant leaps. Run Like A Girl is the stuff of an inspired and inspiring public and private life.”
– Leanne Shapton, Artist and author of Swimming Studies, winner of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography
“Catherine McKenna’s book is such a delight to read and experience. With disarming candour and charm, Mckenna charts her personal and political life in a book that will win the hearts of its readers, friends and foes.”
– Heather O’Neill, best-selling novelist, short-story writer and essayist. Her most recent bestselling novel, The Lonely Hearts Hotel, won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.
Catherine McKenna is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Climate and Nature Solutions. She is Canada’s former minister of environment and climate change, and minister of infrastructure. She is chair of the UN Secretary General’s Expert Group Net Zero, founded Women Leading on Climate, practiced law in Canada and Indonesia, established a not-for-profit focused on providing justice for all, and worked for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste. She has three children, is an avid open water swimmer, and lives in Ottawa.
For more information, visit: www.catherinemckenna.ca
Environment Journal Editor Connie Vitello interviewed Catherine McKenna in 2021 as she was helping to lead Canadian efforts with a green recovery following the pandemic. To read that interview, click here.
Featured image credit: Alex Tétreault – PMO/CPM
