Board of Directors
Executive Committee 2024 - 2025
Kevin Chan
Global Policy Campaign Strategies Director
Meta Platforms
Mara Tramontin
Director, Program Business Management
TVO
Michael Hoechsmann
Professor, Faculty of Education,
Lakehead University
Nathalie Bourdon
Director, Distribution & Market Development
National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
Nana aba Duncan
Associate Professor, Carty Chair in Journalism, Diversity and Inclusion
Carleton University
Board Members 2024 - 2025
Lindsay Doyle
Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for YouTube
Google Canada
Nina Duque
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Steve de Eyre
Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs
TikTok Canada
Paolo Granata
Associate Professor
University of Toronto
Nimtaz Kanji
Director – TELUS Wise and Connecting for Good
Telus Communications Inc.
Suzanne Morin
Past Chair 2016-2021
Vice-President, Chief Privacy and Date Ethics Officer
Sun Life
Ramona Pringle
Associate Professor of Media and Director of The Creative Innovation Studio
Ryerson University
Darcy Smith
Chief Financial Officer, APTN
Official Observer
Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy
Consumer, Analytics and Strategy
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
Biographies of Board Members
Nathalie Bourdon
Nathalie Bourdon is a distinguished leader in the global distribution industry, bringing over 35 years of specialized experience. She holds the rare achievement of dual MBAs from both Université de Montréal (HEC) and McGill University, solidifying her expertise in strategic leadership.
Nathalie's career includes serving as President of FarMore Distribution, a full-service international distributor of television formats and ready-to-air content. She spent 12 years at the globally renowned JUST FOR LAUGHS, where she excelled as Director of International Sales and Senior Director of Development and Acquisition. Her extensive knowledge spans all facets of production, including post-production, and she is adept at managing projects from inception to completion—skills that are instrumental in guiding the global expansion of a brand.
She has a deep understanding of how to bring a creator’s vision to life in an ever-evolving international marketplace. As a recognized authority in the field, Nathalie has served as a board member for two companies and as a jury member for the International Emmy Awards.
Currently, Nathalie is the Director of Distribution and Market Development at the National Film Board of Canada, where she leads a team in overseeing more than 12,000 titles. Her mission is to leverage her vast experience to drive the organization's success on the global stage.
Kevin Chan
Kevin Chan is the Global Policy Campaign Strategies Director at Meta Platforms, where he is focusing on the future of the internet, including generative AI, AR/VR/MR, and the creator economy. He recently helped lead the development of the UNESCO Language Translator, powered by Meta’s No Language Left Behind open-source AI model.
A former government executive and university administrator, Kevin launched Facebook’s Canadian public policy function and spent 7 years as its Head and then Director of Policy. His work fighting white nationalists made NOW Magazine’s 2019 Year In Review, and he was awarded a 2020-21 Harvard Technology and Democracy Fellowship for his leadership of Facebook’s Canadian Election Integrity Initiative. In 2023, UNESCO named his effort translating Facebook into Inuktitut as an initiative of “digital empowerment driving the International Decade of Indigenous Languages”.
Kevin graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, the Ivey Business School and the Royal Conservatory of Music. An Action Canada Fellow, he is the recipient of the Public Service Award of Excellence, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 2022.
Lindsay Doyle
Lindsay Doyle (she/her) is on the Government Affairs and Public Policy team at Google Canada. She is passionate about tech policy and supporting the industry's broader efforts to promote equitable economic growth, innovation and most importantly, user trust and safety.
At Google, Lindsay focuses on key policy issues such as combating online harms and disinformation; AI/quantum; payments and financial services; international trade and taxation. She also works closely with Google.org, the company's philanthropic arm, in prioritizing key partnerships with not-for-profit and charitable organizations across Canada.
Lindsay graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto with a degree in International Relations and Political Science while also working as a researcher at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. She was a co-founder of the Canadian Advocacy Network and is on the Advisory Board of the Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University.
Nana aba Duncan
Nana aba Duncan is an associate professor and the inaugural Carty Chair in Journalism, Diversity and Inclusion at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communications. Her new course Journalism and Belonging focuses on how diversity/equity/inclusion/belonging affects journalism practice and society, and encourages self-reflection and strategies for more inclusive storytelling. Currently, Nana aba is focused on launching the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Centre for Journalism and Belonging, a research centre which advocates, supports and participates in inclusive and belonging-focused journalism in Canada.
Before joining Carleton, Nana aba was a radio producer and host for 15 years. She is also the co-founder of Media Girlfriends, an award-winning, Black-owned, Asian-owned, women-led production company specializing in audio and video journalism. Nana aba holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology (University of Toronto) and a Master's degree in Journalism (University of Western Ontario).
Nina Duque
Nina Duque holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism (Université Laval) and a Master's degree in Communication (UQAM). She is a PhD candidate and senior lecturer in the Communication Faculties of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), and the Université de Sherbrooke. Her research focuses on youth cultures and digital practices. She serves on TikTok's Safety Advisory Council and is a research member of the LabCMO (Laboratory for Communication and the Digital), the Réseau de recherches sur le numérique (Digital Research Network), and the Interuniversity Research Centre on Science and Technology (CIRST).
Before returning to academia, Nina worked in the television industry for over 15 years as a journalist, line producer, and producer, notably for Radio-Canada, TQS, and MusiquePlus. During these years, she developed a keen interest in youth media practices and culture. Her research program is deeply committed to providing young people with a voice and a platform to discuss their media and digital practices. Nina is a proud mother of two daughters and lives with her partner in downtown Montreal.
Steve de Eyre
Steve de Eyre is the Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs for TikTok Canada, where he works with all levels of government to share TikTok’s commitment to user safety and privacy, and to demonstrate how Canadians are using TikTok to create, share, and find uniquely Canadian content online. Prior to joining TikTok in 2020, he was Head of Public Policy at Amazon.ca from 2016 to 2020, where he established and led Amazon’s government relations team for Canada.
Steve has extensive experience in internet and technology policy, international and digital trade, and Canada-US relations. He previously served at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. as the representative for Innovation, Science & Economic Development.
Steve serves on the Boards of Sheridan College and MediaSmarts. He holds a B.A. (Honours) in Political Studies from Bishop’s University, where he was named a “Top 10 after 10” alumni in 2019; and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (Cleveland, Ohio), where he served as a Senior Fellow with the Canada-United States Law Institute. He resides in Oakville, Ontario with his wife and two children.
Paolo Granata
As a leading expert in media ecology - nurtured by the centuries- old tradition of his Alma Mater, the University of Bologna - his research and teaching interests lie broadly in the areas of media ethics, semiotics, print culture and visual studies. Over the last 20 years of his academic career in research, teaching and public engagement, Professor Granata has held positions at the University of Bologna, the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and Turin, and most recently at the University of Toronto with affiliation in the Department of Italian Studies, the School of Cities, and the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. He is the founder and director of the Media Ethics Lab (2019) a research hub that studies the way that digital media practices and emerging technologies are marked by ethical issues and decisive political, societal, and cultural questions. Since 2011, he has been a Marshall McLuhan Centenary Fellow at the Faculty of Information and since 2019, a senior fellow at Massey College, Toronto.
Michael Hoechsmann
Michael Hoechsmann is a Professor of Education at Lakehead University. He is co-editor and co-author of several media education titles including The Handbook of Media Education Research (IAMCR-Wiley, 2021), and Media Literacies: A Critical Introduction (Wiley, 2012; 2nd Edition in 2025). Presently, he is the Chair of the Media Education Research section of IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research).
Nanao Kachi
Nanao Kachi is the Director of Social and Consumer Policy at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), a position he has held since 2012. The mandate of Mr. Kachi’s team encompasses both telecommunications and broadcasting elements. His team is responsible for a diverse array of files, from the Wireless Code to cultural diversity, closed captioning, video relay service (VRS), Described Video, the establishment of the Broadcasting Participation Fund and the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund. Mr. Kachi began his career at the CRTC in 2003 as a senior analyst working on television related issues, including closed captioning and described video.
Nimtaz Kanji
Nimmi Kanji is the Director for the TELUS Wise, a free educational program offered by TELUS that seeks to empower Canadians to stay safe in our digital world. She started her career at TELUS nineteen years ago, while she was a student at the University of Calgary. After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and prior to leading TELUS Wise, she spent several years in TELUS Business Marketing. Nimmi is passionate about smartphone and online safety and is eager to help curb cyberbullying.
Suzanne Morin (Past Chair, 2016-2021)
As Vice-President, Chief Privacy and Date Ethics Officer, Suzanne is responsible for overall privacy leadership at Sun Life and its subsidiaries worldwide. Her mandate includes the company’s Code of Conduct program and evolving standards for ethical use of data. Suzanne’s prior roles include leading the legal team in Quebec and compliance for IT. Before joining Sun Life in 2015, Suzanne spent more than 20 years working in the communications industry, for businesses such as Bell Canada and BlackBerry.
A passionate believer in giving back, Suzanne is actively involved with many organizations including the Canadian Bar Association’s National Privacy and Access Law Section, CANON – Canadian Anonymization Network, and most recently joined Statistics Canada’s Advisory Council on Ethics and Modernization of Microdata Access.
Ramona Pringle
Ramona Pringle is an Associate Professor in the RTA School of Media at Ryerson University, and Director of The Creative Innovation Studio, a creative network comprised of multiple incubators, including the Transmedia Zone, Design Fabrication Zone, and Fashion Zone, as well as the Global Campus Studio, a unique digital studio devoted to fostering international co-productions through the use of contemporary collaboration tools.
As a writer, producer, researcher and journalist, Ramona’s work examines the evolving relationship between humans and technology. She is a technology analyst and columnist for CBC, where she tackles current affairs and explores the impact of technology and social media on all aspects of people’s lives, from work to relationships.
Ramona was the writer and director of the interactive documentary “Avatar Secrets, the interactive producer of PBS Frontline’s “Digital Nation,” and editor in chief of “Rdigitalife,” and has edited and guest edited several “IEEE” publications.
Ramona’s projects have been featured at festivals and conferences including i-docs, Power to the Pixel, TFI Interactive, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Hot Docs, SXSW, NXNE, Social Media Week, TEDx, and in publications including the New York Times, Mashable, Cult of Mac and the Huffington Post. She is a member of the City of Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Board, and the Chair of Interactive Ontario’s Emerging Talent Committee.
Ramona has a Master’s Degree from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Darcy Smith
Darcy Smith is of Métis descent and his ancestry is part of the Red River Settlement. Born and raised in Winnipeg, MB, He is a CPA, CMA who has held senior executive leadership roles for the past twenty-five years in the private for profit and non-profit sector, with the last twelve years as the CFO of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), a large Indigenous charitable organization. He is also a certified board director via the Institute of Corporate Directors and has held this designation for several years. His experience serving on boards includes the non-profit and for-profit sector, including subsidiaries of APTN in the media and entertainment industry, an Indigenous owned non-profit property management company, a not-for-profit, member-owned insurance company, as well as a member of the strategic leadership council for CNIB.
Mara Tramontin
Having worked in or supported almost all areas of TVO, has a depth of knowledge and breadth of experience at the level of senior management. Her career at TVO has spanned production, operations management, finance, administration and human resources. Mara played an integral part in transforming TVO from an over the air broadcaster to the multi-platform digital organization that it is today, focused on Digital Education and Current Affairs & Documentaries. Mara is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business at York University. Mara was instrumental in two projects that recently won innovation awards.
Celebrating Exceptional Learning and Development Professionals (Canadian Society for Training and Development Professionals): TVO in partnership with OCAD University developed an innovative program that empowered employees to embrace continual change and created a digital mindset to “future proof” TVO.
Innovatio Award Celebrating In-House Innovation (Canadian Lawyer Magazine): TVO developed a content and program rights system to track media content deals from development to distribution. This innovation successfully moved beyond a simple rights database to a customizable reporting tool that facilitated reiterations of existing products as part of a more sustainable business model.