Kevin Abourezk, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said the work ICT is doing in Alaska, South Dakota and across the United States is exciting and will lead to producing more stories that “nobody else is covering.”
Abourezk is ICT’s deputy managing editor, a position he started on July 10.
“ICT is doing some amazing things. The newscast is a groundbreaking effort, and I am excited to produce work that may appear in the newscast,” he said.
Abourezk is one of two new hires for the digital news team. Other recent hires include three on the business side.
Abourezk has more than two decades of news experience and will be based in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Dakota and his master’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has previously worked at Indianz.com as the managing editor and the Lincoln Journal Star as a reporter, assistant city editor and content coordinator. He also serves as the vice chairman of the Lincoln Indian Center Board of Directors.
He has received the 2006 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism from the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families, the Outstanding Young Nebraska Journalist 2002 from the Nebraska Press Association and the Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Reporting from the Native American Journalists Association.
“While I’m here, I plan to continue to find powerful human interest stories to tell, as well as investigative stories that require a significant amount of time and effort to complete,” Abourezk said. “I think there are many untold stories in Indian Country that require an investigating approach, such as Indian healthcare and tribal corruption. These are issues that plague Indian Country, and I think ICT is positioned perfectly to tell them.”
Amelia Schafer, descendent of the Herring Pond Band of the Wampanoag tribe and Montauk-Brothertown Indian Nation descent, also joins ICT as the Indigenous affairs reporter for the South Dakota area as part of a new ICT partnership with Lee Enterprises, the parent company of the Rapid City Journal. She was hired in March but officially began in June and will be based in Rapid City.
Schafer has been freelancing for ICT while attending graduate school at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She said she “fell in love with (ICT)” during her freelancing experience.
“I think this is a great company that promotes Indigenous-led journalism and proves that Indigenous stories matter. I had been looking to work for ICT full time after graduating and was thrilled when a position opened up in Rapid City, S.D., where I have family. I’m hoping to help cover untold and underreported stories in South Dakota,” she said.
Janee’ Doxtator-Andrew, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, joined as the audience development director in May. She has experience working in communications and for many national and regional native organizations.
“Ensuring Indigenous communities receive the reliable news coverage they deserve is honoring our ancestors and the next generations. ICT allows me the opportunity to help shape the future of journalism,” Doxtator- Andrew said.
ICT’s business development team additionally welcomed two new hires. Duane Karabin and Steven “Riley” Mowatt, Comanche, will help grow ICT revenue through digital, social and underwriting sales.
“Duane comes to us with a lot of experience working with the higher education market and we are excited to enhance our outreach to that market as well as health and the overall New England market,” Heather Donovan, senior director of revenue at ICT, said.
Karabin said he was very impressed with ICT’s organization, its impact for Indigenous people and the passionate team behind it. He said he looks forward to expanding the higher education market through diversity, inclusion, cultural events and more.
“Obviously being in sales, revenue generation is the primary objective of my role, but it goes much more than that. From a thought leadership perspective, I want to educate and work with companies and or brands that may have never marketed to Indigenous Peoples before,” he said.
Mowatt has experience working with Native owned businesses and in the staffing/hr market. He said he chose ICT because he loves working for and with his Native people.
“Coming from our tribal enterprises, it was an easy transition into working for another Indigenous company. Any position that can impact Indian Country is what I was looking for and I found it,” he said.
“We are excited to expand our outreach to tribes, casinos, Native owned businesses and in the greater Oklahoma area,” Donovan said.
Mowatt plans on making a great impact with the sales team and generating more revenue for ICT.
“I believe ICT’s services hold a great value in Indian Country by providing Indigenous news, Indigenous business promotion and Indigenous community promotion for the nation to see,” he said
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