Lisa de Wilde, CEO of TV Ontario spoke to CEMA on Thursday, December 2 about the network’s primary focus in programming: educational. She spoke about how the network hopes to get children hooked on education (tvokids.com) and particularly parents (tvoparents.com) who did not attend school in Ontario.
These are two strong pillars in TV Ontario’s work, she said. TVO also delivers programming in civic engagement, where public citizenship and the way in which institutions work are examined.
In 2010, TVO celebrates 40 years as it continues to position itself as a strong alternative to other markets in television. She believes in the power of media to engage, to inform, and to serve the public good. Since her appointment in 2005 as TVO’s CEO, Ms. de Wilde has ushered in a new era for Ontario’s public educational media organization, leading its transformation to a fully-digital, interactive source of multi-platform educational content that empowers people to be engaged citizens of Ontario. Her dedication to a strong Canadian media sector began upon her graduation from McGill University’s law school, when she joined the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as legal counsel. While with the CRTC, she also served as Director General-Cable Television, Specialty and Pay Television Service. Ms. de Wilde practiced law in Montreal (where she was a partner at Heenan Blaikie). As Astral Television’s President and CEO, she was instrumental in transforming the then-declining pay TV category into highly successful branded television networks, and in supporting the Canadian film-making community. The world of film is a passion for her, which she has combined with her commitment to contributing to the growth of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), heading up the Festival board’s Finance Committee. Fluently bilingual, Ms. de Wilde champions the cause of educational broadcasters across the country as the Chair of ATEC (The Association for Tele-Education in Canada). Her other not-for-profit, advisory and private sector boards include the Canadian Digital Media Network Advisory Board; the McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management, International Advisory Board; the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation Advisory Board; ORION (Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network); the Government of Ontario’s Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress ; the Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund; the Noranda Income Fund (she was a Trustee from 2002-2010 and Chair of the Board of Trustees from 2004-2010). In 2009 Ms. de Wilde was among the country’s highest achieving women leaders to be recognized with the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award.
