Patrina O’Connor-Paynter and Ellen-Kate Horton have joined the appointments committee of the Media Council of Bermuda.

Ms Paynter, also known as PowerGirl, will serve as the committee chair.

They will join Myra Virgil, who has served on the on the committee since 2011, and replace Venous Memari and Leo Mills, who have stepped down

Don Burgess, the council’s chief executive officer, said the committee chose lay members for the Media Council Board, which fields complaints brought against the media.

Mr Burgess welcomed the two, and said the board had other vacancies to be filled.

He added that “fair-minded people” would be found, and thanked Ms Memari and Mr Mills for their service.

Ms O’Connor-Paynter, an award-winning broadcast personality and motivational speaker, is the managing director of youth mentoring programme Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bermuda.

Her media career spans more than 15 years, and she sits on the management committee of the Berkeley Educational Society.

Ms Horton is a former permanent secretary who retired from the Ministry of Transport in 2012.

Her tenure has included the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of the Education, Sports and Recreation, and the Ministry of the Environment and Sports. and serving as assistant Cabinet Secretary.

She has also held a range of posts in the Department of Education, and hasserved as acting deputy principal, head of the mathematics department, and teacher of maths.

In her union role, she has served as first vice president of the Caribbean Union of Teachers, and worked as a union organiser, president and chief negotiator of the Amalgamated Bermuda Union of Teachers. She has represented Bermuda as an athlete and a sports official.