Jesse Wente (courtesy cbc.ca)
Jesse Wente has been appointed as chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts for a five-year term, effective July 28. He is the first Indigenous person to chair the council.
Born and raised in Toronto, Wente is an Anishinaabe writer, broadcaster, speaker and arts leader. He is a member of the Serpent River First Nation and an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights and First Nations, Métis and Inuit art.
He is best known for his 24 years as a columnist for CBC Radio’s Metro Morning. He spent 11 years with the Toronto International Film Festival and the last seven years as the director of film programs at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
He has served on the boards of directors of the Toronto Arts Council, the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival and the Native Earth Performing Arts, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Canada Council.
Source: Canada Council for the Arts