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Diversity and inclusion advocate

Kate Richardson-Walsh

Kate Richardson-Walsh captained the GB and England women's hockey teams for 13 years, becoming the most capped female hockey player in British history and an Olympic gold medallist at Rio 2016. She speaks on leadership, team culture, and diversity.

Trusted by Queensway, FT Women at The Top Summit, Entrepreneurs Forum, ClearBank

Kate Richardson-Walsh, Speaker | Olympic Gold Medalist, Coach
Kate Richardson-Walsh

Kate Richardson-Walsh

London, United Kingdom

Typical fee range

£6–10k

This is an estimated fee range for local in-person events. Location and format affect the final fee.

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London, United Kingdom

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Kate Richardson-Walsh's biography

At a glance

  • One half of the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic medal as teammates
  • Most capped female hockey player in British history
  • Leadership expert focusing on team culture transformation
Kate Richardson-Walsh is the most capped female hockey player in her country's history and was captain of the GB and England women’s hockey teams for 13 years. An inspirational and charismatic leader, she has been widely credited with helping to build the exceptional team ethos and commitment that propelled the GB team to a dramatic gold medal victory at the Rio Olympic Games. In winning gold, Kate also made history in another way — becoming one half of the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic medal while playing on the same team, with her wife Helen Richardson-Walsh. Having retired from international hockey after Rio, Kate turned her experience towards coaching, encouraging the grassroots development of the game and applying the leadership, teamwork and performance lessons of a career in elite sport. She co-founded Be Create Inspire with Helen, a consultancy helping teams and organisations build high-performing cultures, and the couple co-authored Winning Together, drawing on their experience of building successful teams. Kate is also an accomplished motivational speaker. During her 17 years of playing elite-level hockey, she experienced both soaring highs and crushing lows, playing in teams that operated at their peak and others that struggled with deep structural challenges. Taking these experiences into the corporate space, Kate shares the key processes and behaviours that have underpinned the successful teams she has been a part of. She shares how developing a collaborative team vision, agreeing on shared values and behaviours, and fostering a strong sense of individual self-awareness can empower people to contribute their best to a common goal. Kate also explores the importance of roles and responsibilities within a team, the impact of personal resilience, and how leaders can nurture cohesion and trust. She highlights the psychological tools her teams used to strengthen performance, and how embracing diversity — of thought, experience, and identity — became one of their greatest assets.

Kate's showreel and videos

Topics, sessions and talks

Nurturing Diversity And Inclusion In Leadership
Kate Richardson-Walsh speaks passionately about equality of opportunity for women and the need for flexibility in leadership styles. She admits her early leadership attempts were underwhelming until she found her unique style, emphasizing that "you need to see it to be it." Kate highlights the importance of diverse leadership in inspiring confidence in women. Married to her GB teammate Helen Richardson-Walsh since 2013, she describes hockey as her inclusive, accepting "safe space." Attendees will learn about the value of diverse, inclusive teams and the importance of authentic leadership.
Leading High Performing Teams
As captain of the England and GB women’s hockey teams for 13 years and an international player for 17, Kate was an integral part of the GB Women’s hockey squad, unanimously voted in her by her teammates for her ability to lead by example, nurture talent and bring the best out of people. In this talk, Kate shares her personal experiences of leadership, team building, goal setting and high performance anyone can take and put into action in their own teams.
In Conversation with Kate Richardson-Walsh
Olympic gold and bronze medallist Kate Richardson-Walsh shares her insights from a 17-year international hockey career to illuminate the essentials of building high-performing teams. Drawing from her experiences as captain of the GB women's hockey team, she discusses leadership, resilience, trust, and inclusion. Kate emphasizes the importance of shared vision, self-awareness, and belonging. Attendees will learn how to harness individual and team strengths, fostering an inclusive environment that values diversity as a key driver of success.

Why we recommend booking Kate

Book Kate Richardson-Walsh to inspire your team with her unparalleled insights into leadership and team dynamics, drawn from her historic Olympic journey and elite sports career. Empower your business with her proven strategies for building cohesive, high-performing teams; secure your booking today.

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Trusted by Queensway, FT Women at The Top Summit, Entrepreneurs Forum, ClearBank

Testimonials

Kate was absolutely brilliant; she was inspirational and so genuine. The attendees loved her talk and Tania was delighted. Personally, one of my favourite guest speakers we’ve had at an event. Could not recommend her highly enough.

EE

Kate Richardson-Walsh is such an inspiring speaker and was an absolute delight to have as a guest. We have been inundated with compliments for her, and it seems she really struck the right note with the audience in everything she said about team ambition and leadership. Please let her know how grateful we are.

Entrepreneurs Forum

Just wanted to say that Kate Richardson-Walsh was EXCELLENT! She was a brilliant, authentic, humble, emotional and inspiring speaker – who brought so much of herself to our evening. Please can you pass on our thanks to her for her time & honesty. Truly inspiring – and I know that the assembled team took a huge amount away with them!

Oliver Meakin

Operating Partner, Queensway

Featured Projects

Kate Richardson-Walsh - Winning Together: An Olympic-Winning Approach To Building Better Teams book cover

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