Fennella Bruce is IABC/Toronto Communicator of the Year

March 13, 2024

Nominated for the 2022 International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)/Toronto Award, Fennella Bruce was unsuccessful.

Imagine the surprise of learning she was nominated again last year.

Thinking that her proposer had resubmitted the application, the Communications professional reached out to say thanks.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” was Jacqui DeBique’s response. “I didn’t do it again.”

Unbeknownst to Bruce, the IABC/Toronto nomination committee was very impressed with her package and resubmitted it.

On March 1, the media consultant and founder of FKB Media Solutions was presented with the prestigious award. 

Fennella Bruce (George Pimental Photography)

Bruce said the process was a teachable moment.

“As an entrepreneur, you work harder than you are as an employee because it is your baby,” she pointed out. “You sleep less, you eat less and you sacrifice more because you want to see something you created succeed. But what I didn’t think about was that people are watching what you are doing. I have known Jacqui over the years, but I didn’t know she was following my work. You see the likes and comments on social media and you take them for what they are. What I did not realize was it was building up to a nomination for an award that was not even on my radar.”

In 2018, Bruce took the risk to leave television after 25 years and start her own business.

FKB Media Solutions is a media consulting company that ‘finds solutions for media problems’. 

They offer services in media strategies & training, public relations, copy editing & writing, media literacy workshops, television writing & producing, live stream broadcasting, sponsorship packaging, grant writing and social media.

“I loved what I was doing and I felt like I was continually learning which is important to me because I am a lifelong learner,” said Bruce who taught Media Theory at Centennial College for six years. “But as we are seeing today, the industry is changing and, after experiencing two previous lay-offs, I felt it was time for a change and a challenge. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, so I needed to figure out what my business would be.

“There were things I noticed throughout my career and things I heard like the media only portrays Black people in a negative or stereotypical light like crime, sports and entertainment. When others, including our young people in the community, see us in these roles, then it chips away at the stereotypes and racist beliefs that we are one-dimensional as a community.”

Starting as a CTV National News Editorial Assistant over two decades ago, she wrote for Citytv Breakfast Television and was a CityNews Writer and Senior Writer and Citytv’s first Black female news producer.

“I would often get asked, usually right after I told someone what I did, how can you get me on TV or I am just as good as ‘so and so’ and why can’t I be their expert,” said Bruce who served on critique juries, including the Canadian Screen and the New York Festivals International Television Broadcasting Awards.

As one of the few Black producers at the decision-making table, she was often asked for Black stories, experts and insight into her community.

“We have become comfortable using the same voices over and over again,” Bruce, who recently created FKB Media Productions Inc., pointed out. “It could be more about being comfortable with that person, a lack of resources to search for other people or just plain laziness.” 

She developed a ‘Find An Expert’ portal on her website that highlights Black professionals and experts on a variety of topics.

“Fennella wanted to make it easy for the media to find diversity and women experts outside the typical topics of sports, entertainment and crime,” noted DeBique who was the President of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists in the late 1990s. “She wanted to address the same familiar faces on mainstream television and radio giving their opinion on general topics. Her goal was to move the media away from just calling Black experts and professionals about topics related to the Black community.”

Jacqui DeBique (l) nominated Fennella Bruce for the IABC/Toronto Award (George Pimental Photography)

In addition, Bruce sends a bi-weekly newsletter to media outlets across the country, pitching experts and clients on topical news that results in media bookings.

“She knows only too well the importance of giving voice to those who have been ‘othered’,” added DeBique who is a former Black Business & Professional Association Board Member. “Though she launched her business six years ago, it was in the past three that the impact of her work has felt the most palpable to me, leaving an indelible impression every time I tune into Canadian news broadcasts.

“…She has become a trusted source who can provide media-trained and credentialed speakers against deadlines. She has also opened the door to other media appearances and permanent paid opportunities for her experts on shows as a result of pitching them. Once media outlets saw that they could deliver, they called on them again and again.”

While amplifying Black voices is important to Bruce, she makes it clear her company embraces diversity and inclusion.

“Yes, the majority of my experts, speakers and clients are Black, but –in my opinion – when we talk about inclusivity, we can’t have exclusivity,” the Juno Awards Juror said. “Everyone needs to be valued and included.”

Her clients include Culinary Nutritionist Trudy Stone and Psychotherapist Roxanne Francis.

In her acceptance speech, Bruce spoke about a few of the media professionals who helped her on her journey. They include federal Minister Marci Ien who was Canada AM News Anchor and Co-host for 13 years, and retired television journalist Jojo Chintoh who was City Pulse’s first Black reporter when he joined the station in 1978.

Fennella Bruce with Jojo Chintoh (r) and former CityNews Anchor Gord Martineau (George Pimental Photography)

As Citytv Crime Reporter when she was pursuing graduate studies at Toronto Metropolitan University, Chintoh spoke to her class about a series he was doing and encouraged them to watch it and give feedback. He also gave the students his phone number.

“I remember going to a pay phone and calling Jojo to offer him my opinion on the series,” said Bruce who was the 2022 Women Empowerment Awards Businesswoman of the Year. “He told me to come down to the station, shadow him and see what it is like to be a reporter. I showed up and challenged him, and that was the beginning of our friendship. One of the things he taught me is it is very important to be in spaces where I can be seen and asked what I am about. He said when they ask you, have an answer and make sure you are doing something.”

Four years ago, Bruce was the Caribbean Tales Film Festival ‘The Big Pitch’ runner-up.

The incubator is a development and production hub for producers.

She is the writer/director of a two-part documentary that tells the story of seven-time Juno Award winner Wesley Williams (Maestro) significant impact on hip-hop music in Canada.

Bruce volunteers with Dr. Roz’s Healing Place where she is the Board of Directors Vice-President and the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University.

Since 1997, the IABC/Toronto Communicator of the Year Award has recognized a Greater Toronto Area executive whose demonstrated leadership and communications skills drive business results or have had a substantially positive influence on the community.

Past recipients include Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri and entrepreneur Wes Hall who founded the BlackNorth Initiative.