Journalist and Lethbridge College alumni Tawnya Plain Eagle has built a career elevating the voices of southern Alberta’s Blackfoot community. She will discuss her innovative approach to media as part of Alberta’s Women in Entrepreneurship Week Speaker Series at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 20, hosted by Lethbridge College’s AgENT program.
Plain Eagle’s session, which will feature a fireside chat as well as a Q and A, will focus on her journey through entrepreneurship and how she supports her community by shedding light on important issues that affect the Blackfoot community and Indigenous people. The event is open to all Lethbridge College students and employees, as well as community members.
“Tawnya is an inspiration and a living embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit,” says event organizer and moderator Alexi Kubeczek. “She identified a gap and an opportunity in her home community and took it upon herself to make a difference. We are excited for her to share her knowledge.”
Plain Eagle graduated from Lethbridge College’s Digital Communications and Media program in 2016. She continued her education by earning a Bachelor of Communications from Mount Royal University in 2019, and then returned to her home on the Piikani Nation reserve for a new opportunity with Piikani Tsi Nii Ka Sin (Piikani Nation News). Initially hired as a summer student, Plain Eagle transformed the Piikani Tsi Nii Ka Sin newsletter into a website and newspaper.
However, she envisioned a larger opportunity to serve the Piikani Nation and set her sights on creating a radio station. In September 2020, she launched 106.3 FM Piikani Nation Radio on the FM dial and online, with the goal of offering a local perspective on community events, showcasing and promoting Blackfoot language and culture.
"Our outcry can fall on deaf ears in mainstream media,” says Plain Eagle. “So, I like to be able to provide people from home a safe place to share their stories.”
This free event is part of the Alberta's Women in Entrepreneurship Week Speaker Series. Women in Entrepreneurship Week nurtures, inspires, and energizes people around the world by offering inspiration and practical advice from female founders. In 2020, the college welcomed Judy Varga-Toth, Manager, ImpAct Partnership Services, Government Relations and Canadian Partnerships for Colleges and Institutes Canada for a virtual event as part of Women in Entrepreneurship Week.
“It’s an honour to contribute to Alberta’s Women in Entrepreneurship Week by providing an impactful speaker through Lethbridge College’s AgENT program,” says Megan Shapka, Associate Dean of the Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “The last speaker we contributed to this annual event highlighted our college’s commitment to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and I’m certain this year’s speaker will inspire new entrepreneurs to serve their communities in innovative ways just as she has.”
Registration is available through the Lethbridge College website.