Women To Watch Awards 2026 honors Shawn Cunningham

Shawn Cunningham is the Chief Officer of News & Public Affairs for The Build Network TV (BNTV). Shawn is a more than 26-year award winning tv journalist. For 22 years, Shawn was the primary Producer/Anchor/Reporter for WAGM-TV, a tv station affiliate in Maine. Prior to that, Shawn got her start working for cable news outlets in The Bronx, Long Island, Staten Island, and New Jersey. Shawn also worked at the White House and once fought CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for a seat in the White House Press Room...he won! After retiring from WAGM-TV, Shawn moved on to become the Communications Media Officer for the City of Presque Isle.

Shawn has also worked as the Anchor/Reporter for the yourNEWS Network, serving as the platform's White House, business and health news correspondent. Shawn is a past COO/National Director for the U.S. Minority Chamber of Commerce representing that global business advocacy organization creating projects, events and opportunities that helped minority entrepreneurs. In that role Shawn founded a program called Champions of Minority Business and bestowed honorary designations to six federal lawmakers in DC. The awards were presented during the Descend on DC Capitol Hill visit in spring 2026. While there, Shawn also participated in an IMF/World Bank event. Shawn also launched a first ever Global Women's Virtual Summit on businesswomen's issues and launched an award-winning video series called "Take Charge with The Chamber."

Shawn is a proud member of the National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women's Clubs and a recent graduate of the group's inaugural Leadership Legacy Lab Institute. She has also been selected to be a commissioner and take part in the inaugural BPIA’s Competitiveness Commission. Shawn is a past committee member of the Presque Isle Downtown Revitalization Committee. Shawn is presently an advisory board member of the Maine Women's Conference. She is also a board member of the Northern Maine Fair Association.

Shawn boasts a varied multimedia communications skillset. She is the content creator/producer of several multiplatform shows including “The Shawn Cunningham Show” & "The Black Business Report”. In 2023 Shawn racked up awards including several AVA and National Federation for Press Women Awards for her talk show and her other independent specials “Black Women Beating Breast Cancer”, “Love Your Heart: A Focus on Women and Heart Disease”, and “Mindful Matters, a Focus on Mental Health”. In 2024, Shawn completed a dream by becoming an author with the anthology book "I Am Worthy" Stories of Empowerment and Resilience.

Shawn has received numerous awards including the Aegis Media Awards, three Maine Association of Broadcasters, Telly Awards, Ava Awards and Communicator Awards. Shawn has also won several awards from the National Federation of Press Women. Prior to this new role at BNTV, Shawn worked at new media startup Aebly Media overseeing the creation & production of several news/public affairs digital television projects including the launch of a national political talk show called “Across the Aisle”. Now at BNTV she will be directing editorial operations, news programming, special coverage, political affairs, public affairs initiatives, and original content development including the launch of “Black Power & Politics" and bringing over "Across the Aisle" to the network’s growing portfolio of platforms.

You can contact Shawn via email: scunningham@buildnetwork.info