The Council is a group of Indigenous leaders from across the Indigenous Partnerships in Public Media (IPPM) membership. The Council meets regularly and sets the direction of the IPPM.

The Council in full:

• Dan Bourchier, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief, NITV
• Robert Doane, Senior Director, Indigenous Office, CBC/Radio-Canada
• Kay Ellmers, Executive Director, Ngā Aho Whakaari
• Shannon Haunui-Thompson, Tumu Māori, RNZ
• Johan Ailo Kalstad, Director, NRK Sápmi, NRK
• Thomas Sarri, Head, Sámi Rádio, Swedish Radio
• Kelly Williams, Director, First Nations Strategy, ABC

Scroll down to learn more about each Council member.

Dan Bourchier is a multi-award winning journalist, broadcaster and one of Australia’s most accomplished speakers and MCs.

As the General Manager and Editor-In-Chief of National Indigenous Television (NITV), Dan leads Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander broadcaster, overseeing its strategy and operations across the SBS network.

Before joining NITV, Dan was a prominent figure at the ABC, serving most recently as a Senior News Anchor for the ABC News Channel. He also chaired the ABC’s Bonner Committee and was the network’s Voice/Referendum Correspondent in 2023, leading national coverage across all platforms, including hosting The Drum and reporting for Four Corners.

A multi-award winning journalist with over 25 years of experience, Dan began his career as a teenager at the Tennant and District Times in the remote Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek.

Dan connected with his Aboriginality while being mentored and nurtured by Warramungu Elders and by Elders and Old People from around the Tennant Creek and Barkly region and from further afield, his cultural connection is to Victoria. Dan is a dedicated advocate for First Nations voices and representation – with a proven track record as an agent of change.

Dan is a qualified and accomplished company director and was a foundation member of the NT Parliament’s bipartisan advisory committee in to Statehood and has been a keen advocate for democratic equality and equity. He has sat on numerous boards, committees and charities, using his considerable experience in structural reform, governance and accountability, audit and risk, and media and communications.

Dan is an in-demand MC, event facilitator, and speaker, known for his work in helping to navigate complex and challenging topics and discussions, creating culturally safe and inclusive environments, and helping to unlock the storyteller in others. Dan believes everyone has a story to tell, and he is passionate about helping others to tell their story. He is driven by giving voice to the voiceless, holding power to account, and telling great stories.

Robert Doane (Gitxsan Nation) is the Senior Director of the Indigenous Office at CBC/Radio-Canada, helping shape and push forward the public broadcaster’s National Indigenous Strategy.  A seasoned executive with a focus on institutional decolonization, Robert has spent years ensuring that Indigenous people are not just subjects of stories, but the creators, directors, and decision-makers behind them. His work with the PMA Alliance aims to scale these successes internationally, building a global infrastructure for Indigenous-led public media.

Kay Ellmers (Ngāti Tamateraa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) is the Executive Director of Ngā Aho Whakaari – Māori in Screen, a not-for-profit organisation with a rich legacy of supporting Māori screen practitioners and advancing cultural excellence, self-determination, and Indigenous leadership across Aotearoa’s screen sector.

Kay brings more than 30 years’ experience as a producer and director, and her independent production company has produced hundreds of hours of screen content across a wide range of genres, working in both te reo Māori and English. Her creative practice is grounded in kaupapa Māori and a deep commitment to Māori storytelling on Māori terms.

In addition to her production work, Kay has championed Māori screen storytelling through senior funding, commissioning, and strategic roles across most of Aotearoa’s key screen agencies and platforms.  She looks forward to working with all the partners of Indigenous Partnerships in Public Media to continue to advance indigenous storytelling around the world.

Shannon Haunui-Thompson (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa, Whakatōhea) has worked in the broadcasting media industry for over 30 years and is currently the Tumu Māori at RNZ. Her role is to embed and action the RNZ Rautaki Māori (Māori Strategy). The Rautaki Māori is an action plan to guide how we share kōrero (stories) and whakaaro (thoughts) Māori within inclusive, authentic and impactful media.

Johan Ailo Kalstad is the Director of NRK Sápmi, the Indigenous division of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). Fluent in Northern Sámi and rooted in Guovdageaidnu, he has extensive leadership experience within the Sámi sector.

Combining an editorial background with strategic management experience, he served as Director of the Sámi University of Applied Sciences prior to his current role at NRK. Today, he leads a modern media organisation that produces daily content across radio, television, and digital platforms in three Sámi languages and in Norwegian, maintaining close partnerships with public Sámi broadcasters in Sweden and Finland. His strategic focus is on digital transformation, cross-border media cooperation, and developing new ways to engage younger audiences.

Thomas Sarri has been part of Sámi Radio at Swedish Radio since 1995. He began his career as a reporter and, over nearly three decades, has taken on a wide range of roles within the organization, with news as a recurring focus.

In 2012, he was awarded the Sámi Journalism Award for revealing how members of the Swedish Parliament influenced a state-commissioned investigation. The story shed light on one of the key challenges facing the Sámi Parliament: limited self-determination.

After more than ten years as head of the newsroom, Thomas stepped into the role of Head of Sámi Radio in February 2022.

Born in 1972 and raised in the small Sámi village of Nikkaluokta in northern Sweden, Thomas grew up without Sámi as his first language. His parents belonged to a generation that faced discrimination for not speaking Swedish, and they wanted to spare him the same experience. His grandmother, however, spoke only Sámi, and through her he learned the basics. Later in life, he reclaimed the language through university studies and his work at Sámi Radio.

Throughout his career, Thomas has been driven by a commitment to serving the Indigenous Sámi audience and creating journalism that also helps a wider public understand Sámi culture, society, and history. He lives in Ümea and, outside of work, spends time with his wife and their three children, two of whom are adults.

There are seven founding members of IPPM, representing five countries.