Nana aba Duncan
journalist, host, and producer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Hi! I am an award-winning broadcaster and advocate of underrepresented perspectives in journalism. Currently, I am a William Southam Journalism Fellow at University of Toronto's Massey College, where I am studying the experiences of racialized leaders in Canadian media. I am on leave from my roles as host of CBC Radio One’s Podcast Playlist and Fresh Air, Ontario’s top-rated weekend morning show.
In 2020, I won best influencer at the Women in Diversity Awards and selected to be in Poynter's Leadership Academy for Women in Media. I'm proud to be on the mentoring team with Digital Women Leaders. If you're in journalism and would like to book a call with me, please do!
In 2015, I created the Media Girlfriends podcast and network. Through collaboration with a group of friends in media, #MediaGirlfriends grew to include peer mentorship, events and most recently a $14K student scholarship.
I've interviewed great guests, from craftspeople, artists and scientists to people like rapper/speaker/author Common and Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement.
I have guest hosted q, an arts and culture show, and As It Happens, one of the most popular and acclaimed shows on CBC Radio. I've also guest hosted CBC Toronto's #1 weekday morning radio show Metro Morning, the city's afternoon radio show Here & Now, and the Canada-wide Saturday radio show Day 6.
I started my time at CBC as ‘Contest Nana’ on GO! with Brent Bambury.
In 2010 I hosted the ‘Because I Am A Girl’ cross-country high school tour with Plan Canada. Before that, I won the International Development and Research Centre’s international journalism award, which took me to my birthplace, Ghana. I reported with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and moved on to produce human rights stories and help establish the radio division of Journalists for Human Rights. I then became country director for JHR and managed a nine-member staff of journalists.
I have a Master’s degree in Journalism from University of Western Ontario.
I have been laughing loudly for a long time.