Karina LeBlanc

Karina is a retired Olympic bronze medalist and professional athlete who has the distinguished honor of being one of the longest serving soccer players for Canada. With a prestigious career that spanned almost 18 years at the international level, she participated in 5 FIFA World Cups and two Olympic Games, winning an Olympic medal, and making her and her team household names. In addition to this, Karina is a UNICEF Ambassador, a FIFA Legend and the President of the Karina LeBlanc foundation, a charity that mentors and provides scholarships to young women in sport.

Recently Karina was named an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy and inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. In November 2021, she started her new role as General Manager of the Portland Thorns FC. Karina’s career path takes her around the globe both in person and digitally, where she participates in global leadership initiatives and delivers motivational keynote addresses, speaking to diverse audiences. She has spoken at the United Nations General Assembly events on two separate occasions, as well as the United Nations Race Against Climate Change.

A dynamic speaker, she has engaged large audiences at major events including Canada's 150th Celebration, Women Empowerment Conferences as well as several Leadership Conferences and was the Host of TED x Vancouver. Karina’s authenticity and vulnerability makes her relatable and allows her to connect with all audiences, ranging from fortune 500 companies, to small businesses, to 20,000 seat venues filled with adults and kids alike.

In 2018 Karina accepted the position of Head of Women's Football for CONCACAF and its 41 countries where she works in leading the confederation with developing and growing the women’s game and using football as a means of empowering young women globally. In March 2020, amid the COVID 19 world crisis, Karina gave birth to her daughter. Shortly after delivery, Karina suffered heart failure and had to be re-admitted to the hospital, separating her from her newborn and her husband. Due to possible COVID exposure, she then had to do a 14-day self-quarantine allowing no contact with her newborn or her husband. It was in this challenging and uncertain time that Karina found herself redefining her purpose.

A positive role model and highly sought-after motivational speaker, Karina is a passionate advocate for inclusion, diversity and humanitarianism. She has spoken on developing the mindset of an Olympian, her experiences traveling to some of the world’s poorest places as a UNICEF ambassador, her transition from and elite athlete to a leader in the corporate world and living in the uncomfortable of change. Karina knows how to create an Olympic Culture in any organization. Karina’s goal at the end of every speaking address is for her audience walks away inspired, motivated, asking hard questions, having even harder conversations, and ultimately being a better version of themselves. In Karina’s own words, she truly believes that we all have greatness within us. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that we should live everyday aiming to be the best version of ourselves.

Redefining Your Purpose Through COVID

Olympic Medalist, UNICEF Ambassador, Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy, Head of Women’s soccer for 41 countries at CONCACAF, and now, most importantly, a new mother to her one and a half year-old daughter.

Karina LeBlanc will take you through her journey from immigrating to Canada as a shy 8 year-old, to becoming an Olympic medalist, and recently, just a week after giving birth, surviving heart failure and a COVID scare, which led to a 17 day separation from her husband and daughter. It was during this time that she realized that all of her life experiences, and the mindset that made her a two-time Olympian had prepared her for these difficult times.

In telling her story of how she was able to redefine her purpose in the midst of a pandemic, she will leave you recognizing the greatness you have within yourself during these difficult times. Karina will challenge you to commit every day to living purposefully, to be the best version of you and to connect to a purpose greater than yourself.

Race, Diversity, and Inclusion

Karina LeBlanc will take you through an intimate conversation on her experiences of being a Black Woman in today’s world. Her father told her at an early age: “You are a Black Woman; that can either be two strikes against you, or for you” She has always approached life making sure people see her for WHO she is, not WHAT she is or what she looks like.

Karina pulls from her own experiences when speaking about race, diversity and inclusion. Born to Jamaican and Dominican parents, Karina immigrated to Canada as a shy 8-year-old who felt she had no value on this earth. Through impacting moments and her high-performance mind set, Karina found her voice and way. Karina went on to win an Olympic medal and represent Canada internationally for 18 years as a player and has travelled to various regions of the world as a UNICEF ambassador.

She is now the head of Women’s Soccer at CONCACAF, representing 41 countries in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. All of this combined has given Karina a deep understanding of issues surrounding race, diversity and inclusion. With her authenticity and honesty, she will speak from the heart on an issue and conversation we all need to have and go towards.

Corporate:

Karina's high performance way of thinking and mental resilience is the springboard for her corporate speaking engagements. She has the unique ability to relate to people on a personal level as she shares her successes and failures along with her strong belief that behind every failure comes your greatest successes.

• Team work and team building skills
• Holding ourselves and each other accountable
• Being creative and taking risks
• Working towards finding a collective goal
• Understanding who you are as a company
• Leadership
• Connecting to something larger than yourself

General Adult Audiences:

General Adult Audiences:
Karina is a captivating presenter who speaks straight from the heart, encouraging her audience to believe in the ability to shift their way of thinking.

• Living a purposeful life
• The 48-hour challenge to be the best version of you, everyday
• We all have a purpose here on earth. What is yours? Are you living it?
• Leaving the world on E for Empty
• Being creative and taking risks
• Working towards finding one collective goal and dream

Kids:

Karina's message to children is to connect to the essence of what will take them from special to great! That passion + courage + purpose enables them to dream big! To motivate them to work harder and smarter than anyone else and to believe in themselves!