Recording: IABC/Toronto 2022 Communicator of the Year (COTY)

Celebrate Jesse Wente: BMO Communicator of the Year for 2022

RECORDED on Wednesday, February 15, 2023

IABC/Toronto honours 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 is 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.

Viewers will leave with a new appreciation for Indigenous storytelling and its role in reconciliation and rights relations.

Moderator:

Priya Bates, ABC, MC, SCMPⓇ, IABC Fellow
Co-Founder, A Leader Like Me & President, Inner Strength Communications Inc.

Panelists:

• Jesse Wente
Ojibwe Writer, Broadcaster, Public Speaker, Activist, & Curator & Best-Selling Author

• Danis Goulet
Award-Winning Writer & Film Director

• Tanya Talaga
Anishinaabe Journalist & Public Speaker

Fees:
• FREE: IABC member rate
• $25: Non-member rate ($28.25 with HST)

Members access the recording here

Non-members access the recording here