Nicole McCormick
Senior Manager of Newsgathering, CityNews, Rogers Sports & Media
Nicole McCormick is a proud Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) woman from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, a seasoned media professional, and a passionate advocate and ally.
Nicole plays an integral role in Rogers Sports & Media’s All IN initiative, helping increase diversity across the organizational culture and within the news and entertainment industry content.
How She Made Change
Building Awareness
As the self-identified Indigenous Co-Chair of the Rogers Indigenous Peoples’ Network, Nicole has been an advocate and champion for educating, elevating, and uniting Indigenous and non-Indigenous team members. She helped create two Downie-Wenjack Legacy Spaces, with a third underway, providing a safe place for all people to learn and embrace Indigenous heritage. She coordinated residential school survivor tours and conversations to ensure that both Indigenous people and settlers can understand the generational traumas that exist in our communities today.
Working with Rogers Corporate Real Estate, Nicole had land acknowledgement plaques installed in corporate and retail locations across the country. The addition of these plaques left an immeasurable impact on Rogers’ Indigenous employees and allies, as well as their customers and the communities where their teams live and work.
Nicole used her reach in Rogers Sports & Media to help bring Rogers Hometown Hockey to two Indigenous communities, and to broadcast the game in Cree throughout Canada.
Nicole is currently developing an Indigenous Elders Program at Rogers. The goal of the program is to engage Indigenous Elders across the country to provide cultural support to Indigenous employees, allies, and the Rogers leadership team. With the discovery of unmarked graves at residential school sites, Nicole felt it was important to connect Indigenous employees coping with the news and recurring trauma—as well as allies and leaders—with Elders for support and to receive guidance.
Nicole’s contributions extend into the community. She is a volunteer mentor for Indspire—a national Indigenous charity that invests in the education of Indigenous people for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families, their communities, and all of Canada. This organization has raised more than $100,000 for residential school survivors.
Driving for Equity
Nicole plays an integral role in Rogers Sports & Media’s All IN initiative, helping increase diversity across the organizational culture and within the news and entertainment industry content. Areas of focus include business and community, editorial content, hiring and career-advancement practices, and mentorship and sponsorship. Nicole is a manager with the All IN Content Advisory Council.
Nicole is a passionate advocate and ally for all equity-deserving people. She is the first to stand for and beside all such employees at Rogers. She has consistently fought to eradicate systemic barriers and has helped to create forums for the voices of all Indigenous employees of Rogers to be heard. Her efforts have resulted in large-scale changes across Rogers Sports & Media and beyond.
Actions You Can Take
- Commit to learn. There are many resources available to you to deepen your understanding. Make an effort to learn and encourage others to do the same.
- Practice humble listening. Understand you don’t have the answers for everything and focus on listening to truly hear and learn.
About Nicole McCormick
Nicole McCormick is a media professional with 20 years of experience at Rogers Communications Canada Inc. She is a keynote speaker, speech writer, and panel expert for RISE as well as Rogers’ many ERG groups and outside events. In 2021, Nicole was recognized as Rogers’ Employee of the Year.
Nicole holds a diploma in television broadcasting and communications media from Mohawk College. She sits on both Mohawk College and Centennial College’s journalism program advisory boards, helping shape the programs with her extensive experience and education.
Nicole is a multi-award winner for her work in journalism (Mohawk College) and within the community. She was awarded the 2021 Mohawk College Alumni of Distinction Award in Creative Arts and Design and was issued a Canadian Screen Award by the Canadian Cinema & Television in May 2021 for being part of the team that won Best Local Newscast; she also won a 2021 RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association) Award for Feature News in a Large Market for “CityNews Toronto Exclusive: Visiting a Former Ontario Residential School in 2021.”