Juliette Powell, who was a host for both MusiquePlus and MuchMusic in the '90s, has died at the age of 54. An obituary notes that Powell died of acute bacterial meningitis on June 3.
After growing up doing pageants and becoming the first Black winner of Miss Canada, Powell became a MusiquePlus VJ starting in 1992. She hosted the dance show Bouge de là! before moving to Toronto and joining MuchMusic as the host of Electric Circus and French Kiss. By 1999, she had moved into business reporting with CablePulse 24.
Powell was born in Manhattan and moved to Montreal at the age of eight. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Columbia University, became a faculty member at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, and wrote books including 2009's 33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business Using Social Networking and 2023's The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology (co-authored with Art Kleiner).
She founded and was the managing partner of Kleiner Powell International, a consultancy company advising on the responsible use of AI and business strategy.