Cheryl Reynolds

2021 Women of Influence finalist: Endangered species advocate

Cheryl Reynolds (MFA, Massey) has an extensive background in purposeful entrepreneurship and innovation, basing herself in the Waikato and establishing many organisations including Waikato’s business incubator that helps entrepreneurs and creatives come together (SODA Inc), New Zealand’s largest start-up weekend competition (Innes48, now NZ Bootcamp), and Waikato’s philanthropic community foundation that pools donor funds and distributes grants strategically to great causes (Momentum Waikato). Cheryl is currently launching a new philanthropic trust that is primarily focused on climate action in Aotearoa. She is a Fellow of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF), and before her current venture, she was the inaugural CEO at the Endangered Species Foundation, an organisation focused on building projects to grow and distribute funds to help save endangered species. It is this fantastic cause for which Cheryl has been nominated for Woman of Influence in the category of Environment.

On reflecting on her time at Massey, Cheryl draws on the words of US poet and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, who famously wrote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Cheryl says, “My standout experience from my time studying at Massey is how my Master’s supervisor, Distinguished Professor Anne Noble, and the incredible teaching team at the School of Art, made me feel. I felt that they genuinely believed in my creative and intellectual abilities, much more than I believed in them myself, which gave me the confidence I needed and set me up on a journey of success. I am forever grateful to them all.”

Cheryl offers a wonderful list of her top five tips for new graduates.

Be grateful every day for the beauty and wonder of life and everything you have.
Crave joy, not money.
Never stop learning.
Believe in yourself, for you have already succeeded.
Know that anything is possible, because it is.