Kerry Swanson

Kerry Swanson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO), an independent funding organization serving First Nations, Inuit and Métis screen-based storytellers across Canada. Kerry has led the organization’s rapid growth and initiated multiple public and private partnerships including with Netflix, Sundance, Amazon Studios, MIT, Canada Media Fund, Telefilm and the Government of Canada. Kerry is also co-founder and strategic advisor for Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival, a celebrated multi-platform biennial event in Toronto. She has served as both Board Chair and Executive Director of the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content, and has worked in leadership roles at provincial and municipal funding agencies. Kerry was born and raised in Chapleau, northern Ontario, in a Cree/Ojibwe, Irish and French family. She is a member of Michipicoten First Nation with familial ties to Chapleau Cree First Nation.