Meet Joy Loewen: Champion for representation, mother and dream supporter

This is one of nine profiles on outstanding Manitoba women in honour of International Women's Day. The CBC Creator Network project was written by Carmen Ponto and illustrated by artist Joanna Turner. Some answers have been edited for space and clarity.

Joy Loewen, 52, is a proud Manitoban, a mother and the CEO of the National Screen Institute. She is dedicated to ensuring that everyone sees themselves reflected in the media, and that young women have the confidence to achieve their dreams.

What risks did you need to take to get to where you are?

There were two major ones. I graduated high school at 17 in June of 1988, and by August of that year I was living by myself in downtown Toronto and attending Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University).

I was young, and I'd been one of two Black kids in my Steinbach high school. The culture shock was huge, but I just knew I needed a bigger life. 

I committed the ultimate career no-no. I left my job with no backup plan.- Joy Loewen

The second [risk] was when my kids were young. I was working part time for the National Screen Institute, but I felt like something was missing from my home life with my kids.

So I committed the ultimate career no-no. I left my job with no backup plan. I began picking my own contracts in the industry. I volunteered at the organizations I believed in. And it ended up paying off.

Who or what inspired you to get to where you are today? 

As a kid, I didn't see Black women represented in the media that often. But when I did, it was those stories that gave me a sense of belonging and connection. Those Black women on television back then, they were my people. Now, I've been given the opportunity to foster that feeling in others through my work.

In my late 20s, I was part of the team that launched the Women's Television Network in Canada. For the time, this was truly groundbreaking. It was a national network by, for and about women. 

We worked night and day for years. I watched the women around me, many of them mothers and grandmothers, bringing their kids to work with them, balancing family and home life to get the job done.

It made me realize that raising kids and pursuing your dreams is possible. It was one of those experiences that led me to this wide-eyed kind of realization that the dreams that I had when I was 10 — yeah, actually, they're not laughable. They are achievable.

Her story: Meet 8 more remarkable Manitoba women