By Nathalie Noël
On April 30, 2026, a mix of communications, media and creative professionals gathered to celebrate IABC/Toronto’s 2025 Communicator of the Year (COTY) Award recipient, Madelyn Chung.
Madelyn is an entrepreneur and registered psychotherapist working at the intersection of media, mental health and storytelling. She received the COTY Award in recognition of her leadership in advancing conversations around representation of marginalized voices and about mental health and belonging. She is the founder of the RepresentASIAN Project, a digital media platform elevating voices of the Asian North American diaspora, and the founder and Executive Director of Blossom Mental Health Fund, a registered non-profit dedicated to supporting the mental health of Asian Canadians through culturally responsive resources, programming and funding. She previously worked at HuffPost Canada, FASHION and Netflix Editorial, where she was part of the core team that launched @netflixgolden, a social channel created for the Asian diaspora.
At the COTY Ceremony, Madelyn shared a bit of her journey growing up in Whitby, Ontario and her early days working in media. In both places, the voices and stories of other first-generation Chinese Canadians were often absent or labeled “too niche”. During a fireside chat with Chantelle Cabral, SCMP®, Chair of the IABC Canada East Region, Madelyn offered her life lessons and words of wisdom to help communicators shape and champion authentic representation and inclusion in our work.
We were reminded that we all have differing intersectionalities, as well as privileges. When doors open for us, we have a responsibility to hold them open for those being shut out. We were also challenged to think well beyond optics, when considering representation. “It’s not just about visibility or who is on the screen or in the room,” Madelyn said. “It’s about who is actually telling these stories, which stories are they allowed to be telling, and who is shaping the narratives? For real change to be made, we need to have changes in these rooms. We need marginalized folks in those spaces.”
The moderated talk and the Q&A session that followed, covered a variety of topics and learnings; too many to include here. Fittingly though, two themes kept surfacing, and both are crucial in our profession: empathy and authenticity.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about care: care for each other and care for communities,” Madelyn added. “Inclusion is about caring for the people you are bringing in and recognizing it can do more harm than good if you’re censoring or sanitizing them. We want to be advocating for the people we are bringing in, supporting them, listening to them and allowing them to tell their story, their way.”
“We were so pleased to present Madelyn with this award,” said Amie Silverwood SCMP®, President of IABC/Toronto. “IABC/Toronto’s Communicator of the Year is someone who steps up to make a difference in their community by telling stories and shifting minds towards a brighter future for all of us. Madelyn’s inspiring words at the COTY Award Celebration gave us insights into just how powerful we can be when we’re true to ourselves and the people around us.”
IABC/Toronto established the COTY award in 1997 to honour Greater Toronto Area leaders whose demonstrated leadership and communication skills drove business results or made a substantially positive influence on the community. While recipients are not necessarily in a communications role, they use the power of communication to deepen understanding, inspire action and transform their community. Previous COTY recipients have spanned corporate, media, government, and not-for-profit sectors.
We’re grateful to COTY sponsors TMU Sandbox and Hollinrake Photography. If you would like to support the 2026 COTY as a sponsor, volunteer, or nominator, get in touch!