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A talented athlete, Shanaze Reade is a leading figure in the sport of BMX racing. Having competed in top BMX competitions, Shanaze has claimed three UCI BMX World Championship wins and represented her country at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. Having since retired from the sport, Shanaze is now often booked as a diversity and inclusion speaker for corporate events, discussing topics such as coming from a diverse background, representing black cyclists and the importance of inclusion in sport.
Finding talent for BMX racing at a young age, Shanaze has been competing since 2001. With teams such as Bulldog Bikes UK, Adidas, Team Sky +HD, Madison Genesis and Team Persil BMX supporting her skills, Shanaze has claimed victories such as Gold medals at the 2007, 2008 and 2010 UCI BMX World Championships and Gold at the 2007 and 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. She was also chosen to represent Team GB as the sole female competitor for Team GB BMX at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and again at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Having competed with cycling star Victoria Pendleton, Shanaze has achieved great victories and has also claimed The Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year in 2007. After her retirement from BMX, Shanaze unfortunately struggled with alcohol problems, and now speaks on her struggles with addiction and her journey to recovery as a speaker.
When booked as a diversity and inclusion speaker, Shanaze is able to cover a broad range of topics. Coming from a diverse background herself, Shanaze is able to speak on why inclusion is so vitally important in sport and her experience as a minority in a sport where there were very little black cyclists. She is also able to speak on being a member of the LGBT+ community and her struggles with alcohol addiction, encouraging the inclusion of all no matter their personal circumstances or battles. An inspirational athlete, Shanaze Reade is a great diversity and inclusion speaker for a range of events.
“Shanaze Reade has been one of Access Sport’s core ambassadors for many years, working with the charity to help raise awareness of its work with key audiences.
This has included being guest of honour/ keynote speaker at several events, including our 2019 Manchester Influencer Dinner and our 2018 Bristol Influencer Dinner. On each occasion Shanaze spoke passionately about our charity’s cycling work and why it resonates with her own career and experiences. Each event was a huge success helping us form lasting relationships with senior level business executives as a result of Shanaze’s influence.
Shanaze is an extremely authentic ambassador given she also takes time to coach young people and visit activities to experience them first hand – last year she visited our Hackney BMX track and even made a film showing the importance of community cycling tracks in inner city neighbourhoods. She also supports us on social media, regularly sharing and amplifying our stories”
“Shanaze Reade has been a great ambassador to work with for our client Insync Bikes. She’s given us lots of insights from her time as an Olympic athlete for use in press releases and blogs. She also produces vlogs addressing specific issues around cycling and brings a lot of enthusiasm expertise and credibility. Shanaze has Also attended events and spoken to the media and stakeholders. A pleasure to work with”
“Shanaze has been an ambassador at a number of our live and virtual events, both for customers and colleagues, and has talked openly about her experiences in both her professional and personal life. She is incredibly versatile and relates extremely well to all types of individuals, whilst providing honest stories about how she has achieved success despite times of adversity. She has excellent communication skills and is down to earth, meaning that she resonates well with our different audiences. We would highly recommend Shanaze as an ambassador for future events.”
“I wanted to send a short message to say thank you to you both for the assistance in organising our event with Shanaze yesterday evening. It was a huge success and we hope the audience enjoyed it as much as we did. On that note, we would be very grateful if you could pass on our thanks to Shanaze. Speaking for myself, Shanaze was absolutely brilliant, and her willingness to be honest and vulnerable in order to convey her incredibly worthy message was incredibly inspiring”
The Diversity and Inclusion Speakers Agency has been one of the UK’s leading bureaus for inspirational figures of different races, genders, sexualities and abilities since 2020. We supply speakers for corporate and public events across the world, and cater to both in-person occasions and online webinars. Our roster includes athletes, psychologists, celebrities and more, to ensure that audiences of all industries receive tailored, impactful advice on diversity and inclusion.
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