Executive Director, Communications and Knowledge Mobilization

Jeff Rud joined the Representative’s office after four years as a B.C. government communications director, during which he was assigned to various ministries and worked on a number of initiatives including the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Prior to that, he worked for nearly 30 years as a journalist at several newspapers in Western Canada.

Over the final portion of his newspaper career, Rud was a member of the Press Gallery at the B.C. Legislature, covering a wide range of subjects for the Victoria Times Colonist. In 2005, he was part of a Times Colonist team that was a Michener Award finalist for its reporting on B.C.’s child welfare system. Rud was also nominated for six Webster Awards, honouring B.C. journalism, winning two. In both 2005 and 2006, he was part of Times Colonist Webster-nominated teams for reporting on child welfare issues.

Prior to switching to news coverage, Rud was a sportswriter for 18 years and he is the author of 10 sports-based books — five fiction and five non-fiction. Rud lives with his wife and two children in Victoria where he has been active as a coach and volunteer in basketball, baseball and hockey.