Donna J. Knight is the Founder and Director of the Work Hard Network. A business organisation that she was inspired to set up in honour and memory of her son Rashard Miles Henry, an exceptionally outstanding young tennis player who sadly lost his life to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).
Donna’s son Rashard, wiser than his years, left one final piece of advice to his family, friends and supporters “Work Hard”. Rashard’s remarkable mindset and commitment to his purpose saw him with a vision that went beyond being present in this world. In an emotional conversation with his Mum, his sheer belief and determination came shining through as he shared his insight and vision beyond life, “Don’t worry Mum, I can still win tennis championships on that big tennis court up there in the clouds.”
The passing of Rashard to DIPG left Donna more determined than ever to support and encourage others, whether that be children, young people, adults, or business organisations, to realise their dreams, aspirations and purpose.
In Donna’s quest to support others she founded a simple 3 step inter-relational relationship process that sees other successfully grow with purpose. Donna’s belief is that working to achieve a greater good, with the intention of supporting others, should always be the driving force behind personal, and organisational development goals.
Donna’s fundamental belief is that we should strive to collaborate to achieve a greater good. Through the WORK HARD NETWORK you are introduced to a range of professional ambassadors, partners and friends that are committed to and share that same belief. Their own personal journeys to success and achievement clearly modelling our purpose and ethos.
The WORK HARD NETWORK Professional Ambassadors, Young Ambassadors, Partners and Friends are truly inspirational and lead in the world by example.
Donna’s vision is to use her Unspoken Necessary Podcast as a platform to bring to light, and make visible stories of success that have often been born through overcoming challenges and adversity; inspiring a commitment to “work hard”.
Donna’s own history and life journey will give you great insight into why it is important for her to help others.
Growing up in South London in a single parent household where she saw her Mum work hard to provide for her family is what shaped Donna’s mindset and understanding around the correlation between working hard and being successful.
During Donna’s teenage years she herself was fortunate enough to experience first hand the correlation between working hard and being successful.
With her Mum’s influence Donna developed a mindset that would in turn allow her to fulfil her own dreams and aspirations, of which were centred around basketball.
Following a successful junior basketball career in England, Donna was awarded a full 4 year Basketball Scholarship to Northwest Nazarene University, a private university located in the Northwest of the United States of America(USA). Donna’s time at NNU in the early 90s saw her gain a Business Degree alongside the accolades of First Team All American and being named to Who’s Who amongst small private colleges and universities in the USA.
Donna’s time in America very quickly helped her to realise and understand the importance and value of good coaching and a good education. Both of which, for her, have opened and continue to open doors to incredible opportunities. Going onto travel internationally to represent the England Senior Basketball team namely being one of these great opportunities.
Towards the end of Donna’s playing career she slowly began to transition into the field of education. Gaining a wealth of experience from working in schools, with children, young people and families for over 20 years, her knowledge and deep level of understanding around challenges and barriers to learning, including identifying and removing the barriers, is what attributes to the ongoing rise in her schools consultancy role.
Working at senior management level in the education industry, Donna identifies her area of expertise in education as Inclusion. Her focus when working with education professionals, children, young people, and families is around engagement in learning, and how to motivate pupils, and students to work hard both inside and outside of the classroom so that they can fulfill their dreams and aspirations. In schools, Donna works with senior management teams to shine a light of inclusion, sharing the importance of developing inclusive learning environments for all learners. Identifying and removing any barriers that may hinder the development and success of individual, or a collective demographic of pupils or students who are underachieving, meeting expectation, or high achieving. Donna's belief being that a systemic approach to education, including having the knowledge, skills and understanding to negotiate relationships that exist in the classroom, through conscious and unconscious communication are key to successful outcomes. Donna deepened and developed her understanding of the social and emotional factors that impact teaching and learning while studying and earning her Masters at the Tavistock and Portman Clinic/UEL. Donna’s desire to develop and share a deeper understanding around how early childhood development, relationships and attachment influences all students ability to learn, digest information, be taught in the classroom, and to engage in education generally, led her to pursue and earn her Masters.
Being a Mum to four children is something Donna is extremely proud of. She attributes being raised by a caring, supportive and hard working Mum, alongside her time in America, to successfully preparing her to raise four level headed and well-rounded children, all of whom she is very proud of. For her children, Donna believes that she was able to model and teach, from an early age the relationship between working hard and being successful.
The roads Donna has travelled throughout her life journey and the passion, love and desire she has to support others is what makes her a great coach and motivational speaker.
Donna’s ‘golden nugget’ is her ability to speak from the heart to inspire others. She is an outstanding motivational speaker that always effortlessly engages her audience. Her incredible gift to speak from the heart is an inspiration.
Donna is the author of THE BOY WHO SAW DOUBLE. A book in which she is able to share a very powerful testimony. As summed up by a friend, “She just has this spiritual presence, that is also physical, intellectual and emotional”