Mary Kemmis, president of the Prairie Division of Black Press Media, was one of those kids who was always asking questions in class. That natural curiosity and a talent for writing led to her leaving the family farm in northern B.C. to enroll in the Langara journalism program. Mary’s career began as a reporter at her hometown paper, the Smithers Interior News, followed by the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, where she met her husband Mel. After a few years as a reporter and a move to the Lower Mainland of B.C., Mary made the switch to media sales and sales management, working for newspaper and radio companies across Western Canada and later Ontario. She returned to community newspapers as a publisher with Black Press Media in 2007.
Today she is Red Deer Advocate publisher and Black Press Media Prairie Division president.