Melanie Nepinak Hadley
Program Director, Global Access Programs, WarnerMedia
Melanie is a First Nations woman from the Ojibway Nation.
Growing up in an underrepresented community, she has the unique life experience to give her the drive, ambition and perseverance to explore the power of change through storytelling.
Melanie is part of a team at WarnerMedia focused on building relationships with and opportunities for creators of all genders, abilities and identities from Canada’s underrepresented communities, including members of Indigenous, Black, and other racialized groups, creators with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ2+ and Francophone communities.
Prior to her role at WarnerMedia, she was executive in charge of production for CBC Drama overseeing projects in development and production including Heartland, Pure, The Secret Path and When Calls the Heart. Before that she was the manager of programming for Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) where she managed development and first- and second-window licencing for television and digital media projects commissioned from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Northwest Territories.
Melanie got her start in the industry through the NSI Aboriginal Youth Pilot Project (now CBC New Indigenous Voices).