April 2026
MDM Spotlight
This month we're excited to feature Iliana Mehmeti from Cohort 13.0 and Dawsyn Borland from Cohort 5.0!
Alumni Spotlight: Iliana Mehmeti (MDM 13.0)
Associate Producer, CBC Sports, Cortina Olympic Games
Congratulations to Iliana Mehmeti, who joined the CBC Sports 2026 Winter Olympics team as an Associate Producer for the Cortina Olympic Games! In her role, Iliana supports content development from end to end 鈥� pitching creative concepts, coordinating with partners, editing video packages, capturing behind-the-scenes material, and managing digital highlights and posting workflows as the Games approach. Her day-to-day evolves with each phase of Olympic preparation, giving her a wide range of experience across editorial, production, and digital publishing.
One of Iliana鈥檚 favourite parts of the job is seeing creative ideas come to life:
鈥淲atching an idea grow from a few words on a page into a full video with a big production behind it is beautiful.鈥�
Her work intensifies as the Games near 鈥� especially during the period when she produces daily content with 24-hour turnarounds 鈥� but she describes the experience as both demanding and incredibly rewarding:
鈥淚t鈥檚 tiring but also so rewarding. You learn so much from it.鈥�
Iliana credits the MDM program with preparing her for the fast-paced, collaborative environment of Olympic broadcasting. Managing multiple deliverables at once 鈥� often for different courses and different teams 鈥� became foundational training for the work she does now:
鈥淢anaging multiple projects at once in MDM built stamina. It taught me how to communicate under pressure without letting stress break you.鈥�
She also highlights how important teamwork is in both spaces 鈥� and how MDM helped her develop the communication skills needed to navigate large, diverse creative teams:
鈥淭eam projects in MDM feel close to real life. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and thinks differently. It鈥檚 not about who鈥檚 right 鈥� it鈥檚 about choosing what gets you to the final destination.鈥�
As an interntational student Iliana had some advice to share with current and future MDM students.
鈥淔eeling overwhelmed is normal 鈥� acknowledge it, but remember you all have the same goal.鈥�
鈥淵ou have to be proactive. Once you ask for help, someone will always guide you.鈥�
Three words that describe Iliana's MDM experience?
Community. Great friendships. Learning.
Dawsyn Borlan recently reached a major career milestone, jumping up 鈥渢wo levels鈥� to join the incubation team at Adobe as a Principal Product Manager. Since joining the company she has been at the helm of Project Pulsar, a first-of-its-kind XR application in a new category for Adobe. Project Pulsar is a collaborative technology developed by Adobe, Google, and Samsung, with the beta product launching in October 2025 - just 5.5 months after Dawsyn joined the team.
Dawsyn played a pivotal role in the launch by setting the strategic direction for Project Pulsar, taking it from a mere concept to a live product in just under half a year. 鈥淚 love working on these zero-to-one products, taking it to market and getting it out there,鈥� Dawsyn said, describing the excitement of taking a product from a 鈥渂lank canvas鈥� all the way into the hands of users. Working within an incubation team allowed her to 鈥減ush innovation鈥� with the speed of a startup, even while navigating the "bureaucracy" of a large corporation.
Before landing the role at Adobe, Dawsyn spent four to five years at various XR startups where 鈥渢hey work really fast鈥� and have 鈥渧ery few guardrails.鈥� She was eventually recruited for her role at Adobe via LinkedIn - a platform she credits for her last two major career moves.
Prior to her startup roles, Dawsyn鈥檚 foundation began at 成人大片 (formerly Ryerson University), where she completed her Master of Digital Media in 2018. For Dawsyn, the MDM program was more than just an academic milestone; it was a profound period of 鈥渟elf-discovery鈥� that helped her pivot from a background in media production toward the tech sector. 鈥淚 very quickly realized, oh my God, this is NOT the career path for me鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut then I just kept hearing tech calling my name鈥 got there and said, whoa, I鈥檓 actually THIS type of person that I didn鈥檛 know before!鈥�
Two specific electives proved to be 鈥減aramount鈥� to her success. In the Synaesthetic Media Lab (SYNLAB), she learned to solder and assemble an Arduino board, an 鈥渆ye-opening鈥� experience that proved she was capable of more than she imagined. This hands-on work translated directly into her product management skills, helping her to 鈥渢ranslate all these different technical requirements and figure out the amount of effort and time that鈥檚 required for them to be successful.鈥� Additionally Catherine Wood鈥檚 course on theming and entertainment taught her what would become a 鈥渃ornerstone鈥� of her professional philosophy: "identifying the problem rather than coming up with the solution.鈥�
Dawsyn鈥檚 advice for current and future MDM students is to remain proactive and recognize their own value. 鈥淒on鈥檛 feel like the title and the required qualifications are this box that you need to fit in鈥� there鈥檚 always something that you can do to stand out.鈥� She also urges graduates to be their own best advocates when entering or re-entering the workforce: 鈥淣ever say yes to their first offer鈥lways negotiate something. Even if it鈥檚 small, negotiate it鈥ou just have to have faith, full faith in yourself and your abilities.鈥�
Three words that Dawsyn used to describe her MDM experience: 鈥淭ransformative,鈥� 鈥淪elf-Discovery,鈥� and 鈥淔un.鈥�
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