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IABC/Toronto 2022 Communicator of the Year (COTY)
February 15, 2023 @ 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm
Join IABC/Toronto live-to-air as we honour Jesse Wente, Ojibwe writer, broadcaster, public speaker, activist, curator and best-selling author with the BMO Communicator of the Year award for 2022.
Wente has spent 25 years making space for Indigenous storytellers, highlighting issues facing the community and championing the work of Indigenous artists. He is best known for his work as a film and pop culture columnist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Metro Morning (CBC).
An outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art, Wente was named founding director of the Indigenous Screen Office in 2018. Two years later he was appointed Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Jesse Wente’s first book, Unreconciled: Family, Truth and Indigenous Resistance, is a national bestseller and was chosen as one of best books of 2021 by Chapters-Indigo, Apple Books and The Globe and Mail. He also recently won the Kobo Emerging Writers Prize in Non-Fiction.
As Canadians continue to grapple with the country’s colonial history, Wente is enabling honest conversations and creating space for other Indigenous artists to share their voices. Honest and accessible communication is essential for societal change and Wente is at the forefront of this action.
Panel Discussion: The virtual BMO Communicator of the Year award presentation will be followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion. Explore the power of communication for reconciliation and how our panelists use a variety of storytelling methods to inform, inspire and transform.
Attendees will leave with a new appreciation for Indigenous storytelling and its role in reconciliation and rights relations.
$25 IABC Members