Australia's most decorated female Paralympian — 17 medals across four Games and an advocate for inclusion
Ellie Cole AM is Australia's most decorated female Paralympian. After losing her right leg to cancer at three years old, she went on to win a record-breaking 17 Paralympic medals across four Games — a tally no Australian woman has matched. Eight weeks after the amputation, following a year of unsuccessful chemotherapy, she jumped into a swimming pool for rehabilitation. From that moment she built a glittering career, and in 2024 she was awarded an AM for her contribution to sport and inclusion.
What sets Ellie apart is the way she reframes adversity. Her story is told with resilience, humour and heart — and a striking lack of self-pity. She believes that living with a disability taught her that things don't always go our way, and that the emotional limitations holding most people back are stepping stones that are easy to overcome, once you know how. Beyond her own story, she draws on first-hand experience of how genuine diversity and inclusion practices become a competitive advantage — bringing together people from different backgrounds to excel in creativity, problem solving and innovation. She also speaks on accessible communities and universal design, in a world where an estimated 20 per cent of Australian adults live with a disability.
Audiences leave Ellie's sessions with a practical shift in mindset: adversity as opportunity, challenges met with courage, and a clearer picture of what inclusive teams and environments make possible. Clients describe her as down to earth, relatable and quick to connect with a room, whether it is a senior leadership team or 250 people under 30. For motivational keynotes, diversity and inclusion programs and conference hosting, Ellie Cole offers a rare combination — elite credibility, infectious energy and a message that strength lies in connection, courage and believing in what is possible.
Ellie Cole AM is a keynote speaker and MC based in New South Wales who speaks on diversity & inclusion, inspiration and motivation. Book through Executive Speakers Australia.
Shifting your mindset can be the difference between a happy, fulfilled existence and a daily struggle. After a year of unsuccessful chemotherapy, Ellie’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to amputate her leg. She jumped into a swimming pool eight weeks later for rehabilitation - and from that moment built an inspiring and glittering career.
Ellie focuses on embracing life and adapting to change. She believes that having a disability has taught her that things don’t always go our way, and how important it is to focus on the positive and move forward.
A lot of people have emotional limitations that prevent them from living the lives they want to live - but Ellie says these are stepping stones that are easy to overcome - once you know how.
Throughout Ellie’s career as a Paralympic athlete, she has seen first-hand how genuine acceptance and encouragement of diversity and inclusion practices can be a serious game changer. Not only does diversity provide society and individuals with an empowering competitive advantage, but it also brings together people from different backgrounds to excel in creativity, problem solving and innovation.
Here Ellie shares her tips and experiences in building brilliantly diverse teams and communities and the enormous benefit we can all enjoy from it.
The tourism industry contributes 10.8 billion dollars to our Australian Visitor Economy, which is greater than the Chinese tourism industry. With an estimated 20% of Australian adults having a disability and an ageing population, the disability sector is set to grow. So, how we can change our world to accommodate people living with an impairment?
Through the process of universal design our world can be accessed, understood and used by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. An inclusive world is not waiting for a special occasion to address issues in our environment, but by doing the best we can to address issues in our communities so they are able to be enjoyed by all.
On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team, we'd like to thank Ellie for a fantastic session last week. Everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed meeting her and listening to her story. She is very down to earth and relatable, with a great key message that we could all take away from. Ellie was very personable, and everyone felt comfortable talking to her – she had an ability to really make everyone relaxed and open. Ellie certainly captured everyone's attention and gave us the wow factor we were after, so thank you for your assistance in arranging this and a big thank you to Ellie!Manager People & Culture, Strathfield Council
The thing that struck me most about Ellie is how down-to-earth she is. Even though she's a 6 time Paralympic gold medal winner, she could just as easily be the friend you knew from school. She's funny and she quickly connected with the audience (250 people who were under 30 years old). Wow, what an inspirational young woman!Westpac Group
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