| Job Title: | Executive Director News and Current Affairs |
| Employer: | Aboriginal Peoples Television Network |
| Grad Year: | 1998 |
| Degree(s): | B. Journalism |
| Major(s): | History |
| Expertise: | Journalism |
| Industry: | Media |
What makes you a good mentor?
I like helping people solve problems, build confidence and achieve their goals.
About Karyn Sylvia
I have 20 years experience in communications, and broadcast journalism. I have worked in both daily news and on investigative documentaries.
For the past six years I have worked as the Executive Director of News and Current Affairs at APTN, In this role I am responsible for all in-house news and current affairs production. Recently the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television honoured me with the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism (2017) and the Canadian Association of Journalists with the Charles Bury Award in 2016. APTN’s Human Resources team have helped me set up an internal mentorship program which aims to help editorial staff advance to management positions. As well I have worked with Journalists for Human Rights to build internship programs for Indigenous youth who wish to enter the field of journalism.
This is my second round at APTN. I previously worked at APTN from 2000-2006 as a reporter covering Parliament Hill as well as Indigenous communities in Ontario, Quebec and occasionally Nunavut. I was honoured with three Native American Journalism awards and nominated for a Canadian Association of Broadcasters award during my time as APTN’s Ottawa correspondent.
For three years I was a host/producer at ichannel working on two shows: a current affairs show called @Issue and a federal political show #FAQMP. #FAQMP was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. In 2006 I completed a season at Vision TV as a segment producer for the current affairs documentary show “360 Vision”. Some of the topics I covered were homelessness, the exploitation of children in pornography and sexual harassment. The series received a Gemini nomination that year.
My communications experience comes primarily from my time as Communications Director for the Assembly of First Nations (2007-2009). My specialty was media relations and I worked on campaigns with the World Health Organization raising the profile of the impact of tuberculous on Indigenous peoples world-wide. As well, I worked with the AFN Women’s Council on campaigns to raise awareness about family violence and missing and murdered Indigenous women.
I look forward to any opportunity where I can help people who are entering a career in journalism or communications, or to assist people seeking advancement to a management level realize their goals.