Cheryl Pounder
Cheryl Pounder is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, world champion and respected sports broadcaster who knows what it takes to perform, adapt and succeed at the highest level.
As a member of Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team, Cheryl competed against the best athletes in the world and experienced firsthand the discipline, preparation, resilience and teamwork required to reach the top of her sport. Her Olympic journey taught her that winning a gold medal is not defined by one extraordinary moment—it is built through thousands of seemingly small decisions, daily habits and a commitment to continuous improvement in the Pursuit for Excellence.
Following her playing career, Cheryl successfully transitioned into sports broadcasting, establishing herself as a trusted and insightful voice in hockey. Her extensive broadcast work includes coverage of the NHL, PWHL, World Junior Hockey Championship and the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. She also broke new ground as the first female voice featured in EA SPORTS’ NHL franchise, appearing in NHL 24, NHL 25 and NHL 26.
Speaking topics
- Pursuit of Excellence “Growing for Gold” Self-Awareness, Leadership and Teamwork
How does one grow and get gold, no matter their situation?
Cheryl’s enlightening keynote is interactive, engaging and entertaining. She discusses the importance of building a vision while focusing on participation vs engagement and the importance of seizing every opportunity.
Cheryl also focuses on the character dimensions of leadership, the importance of collaboration and how one individual can affect and impact the culture and mission of a group. By sharing information, understanding the importance of Inclusivity and recognizing value, we build culture and efficiency.
“|Growing for Gold” involves trusting the process, tough conversations and clarity of the common goal.
Thinking differently is essential to excellence.
- Pursuit of Excellence: “Breaking the Barriers” The Courage to Overcome Adversity
How do you take what cards life has dealt you and turn them into a win?
Cheryl discusses adversity as it applied to her journey and how being ‘abnormal’ and taking chances helped her succeed in a world where many believed she couldn’t.
Finding strength in vulnerability and having the courage to embrace change, leads to incredible opportunities. Cheryl takes you on a journey, discussing how she developed resiliency and how she has overcome her personal fear of failure in order to break barriers and prove to herself and others that she has what it takes to win.
- Pursuit of Excellence: “End the Stigma” Understanding Mental Health
Can you recognize the signs of mental illness?
Are you doing what you need to do to take care of your own mental wellness? Cheryl talks about the pressures of leadership, being in the public eye and the importance of taking care of your own mental wellness in order to reach your goals and lead a fulfilling life.
She also talks about the importance of encouraging your team and those around you to put mental wellness on their list of personal goals.
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- Pursuit of Excellence: “Women in Leadership” The importance of finding your voice, rising up and collaborating
As a professional hockey player and sports broadcaster, Cheryl Pounder will share her journey as a female in a male-dominated community. She discusses the courage needed to find your voice and how to find the strength to ‘stand on top of your story’. She will reinforce the importance of joining the conversation and how women can rise up to any challenge in any circumstance. She encourages the audience to talk about their own personal barriers while recognizing their role within a community. Cheryl also talks about the need for collaboration as women in leadership and how teamwork really does make the dream work.
- Cheryl Pounder - Host/Emcee
Cheryl brings her high energy and effervescent personality to each and every event, large or small. With her warmth and friendliness, Cheryl immediately makes guests feel like they have a new friend. For fundraising events, Cheryl encourages giving and supports the cause with personal stories. With galas and award presentations, Cheryl is professional, yet down to earth. There’s never a dull moment with Cheryl. With her experience as a sports commentator, radio host and keynote speaker, Cheryl keeps the energy moving while focusing on the goal of the event she’s at.
Video clips
Speaker testimonials
Cheryl was outstanding. Honestly, she hit all the right notes for our audience, incorporated personal messages into her stories that tied to our business, and really created beautiful moments of laughter and tears. Cheryl was incredibly easy to trust and to collaborate with. We are so grateful you recommended her!
I have received nothing but compliments and praise for Cheryl! Our advisors really appreciated her sharing her amazing journey through her career and mental health highs and lows. She is a very powerful speaker; we were all hooked on every word she said. Her message was also powerful and relevant to our field, and really inspired us. I was walking her out when she had to leave and we kept getting stopped by advisors, we could have kept chatting with her all day! Thank YOU for recommending her to us.
Cheryl is an amazing presenter with incredible stage presence. She is inspiring, motivational, and a terrific storyteller. Everyone was writing down pearls she delivered during the presentation and these are still being talked about today. I loved the way she weaved in our theme of United and Unlimited throughout her presentation. It was one of the best I have seen in years!
I would not hesitate at all to recommend her to other groups looking for a great motivational speaker.
Cheryl was everything we hoped for and more. Her message was on point and powerful. If there is a fit, we would absolutely book her again in future.
The event went well and can firmly be classified as a success. Cheryl was awesome. She really had the audience engaged. Everyone was VERY pleased with her and our expectations were exceeded. Cheryle was a true professional and is at the peak of her craft. Would strongly recommend her.
VIRTUAL EVENT: The feedback has been amazing. Cheryl knocked it out of the park. She really listened to me in our prep meeting and found a way to incorporate our themes for 2022 into her stories.
As Master of Ceremonies, Cheryl was the heart and soul of the Awards Gala for the Canadian women’s Hockey league. Articulate, engaging and funny, she connects with audiences by discussing her own experiences as an athlete, friend and mother. Whenever she speaks, she conveys in a clear and compelling way why she is–and always will be–a champion.
In a day and age where presentations seem all too plentiful, it has become more challenging to find unique and intimate experiences that truly can inspire the pursuit of a dream, a tear and a laugh, and help us each understand what it means to represent something even bigger than we each are and the path to get there. I have had the privilege of seeing Cheryl present to different audiences, from young kids to accomplished professionals, and her level of inspiration and audience engagement is that special touch that is otherwise a missing ingredient for so many. Cheryl represents not only an elite level of accomplished athleticism and winning but at her core message, a heart-felt reminder to us all on the importance of the pursuit and belief in a dream, a vision and to battle through obstacles to achieve it. The medals were earned and her character and integrity of message is natural. Each presentation has ended in a standing ovation with tears throughout. Cheryl’s is a unique story of someone who achieved excellence built from a dream as a child; had that world taken away from her and had to find a way to battle back to that level of success through nothing short of a commitment to work hard and sacrifice. Cheryl’s message, and perhaps even more so, Cheryl as an individual, will inspire your heart and your own visions.