Donna Cheek

Donna Cheek is a substitute staff announcer at KCBX. You can hear her on weekend mornings and on weekdays during midday and All Things Considered. Donna first came to KCBX in 2014 as a volunteer contributing producer for our radio magazine “Issues and Ideas.” Her segments covered animal-centric nonprofits located on the Central Coast of California.

Donna holds a journalism degree from Cal Poly, but her professional career has been as a horse trainer and equestrian. In 1982 Donna made history, becoming the first Black person to represent the US Equestrian Team in international show jumping. That accomplishment led to her becoming the first equestrian inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

In 1984 Donna starred in the NBC after school special “One More Hurdle: The Donna Cheek Story” about her young life. The film was awarded the NAACP Image Award and the Bronze Halo award. From 1988 to 1995 Donna represented Adolph Coors as a member of the Outstanding Talent Family, which toured the United States. She performed as an exhibition rider and spoke at inner-city schools. She also represented Nabisco Brands Inc. as a motivational speaker to youth groups and women's organizations. In 2017 she received the Trailblazer Courage Award from the Women's Sports Museum.

For many years Donna has focused on training horses privately. She currently has a select few horses in training and enjoys her part-time announcing work at KCBX.