APTN has hired Karyn Pugliese has the specialty networks’ new director of news and current affairs.

Pugliese who has more than 15 years of experience in the broadcast and communications industries and is a member of Ontario’s Algonquin First Nation of Pikwàkanagàn, starts July 9.

“Karyn is a great leader, and we are pleased that she has taken on the challenge of leading APTN’s award-winning news and current affairs team,” Jean LaRose, APTN’s CEO, says in a statement Wednesday. “I know she will work hard with her team and the entire network to carry out APTN’s mission of sharing our people’s stories.”

Pugliese’s work has won Native American Journalism Awards. She has also been nominated for a Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Gold Ribbon Award.

Her most recent experience included producing and hosting duties at ichannel.