Jude Gerrard

Jude was born in Sheet Harbour, NS and is a member of the Millbrook First Nation. He has worked for several federal departments including the RCMP, Correctional Services Canada, and Veterans Affairs. He has also worked for many departments within the Nova Scotia public service, including Education and Early Childhood Development, (where he helped established Treaty Education in Nova Scotia) Communities Culture and Heritage, the Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency, and the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives. Jude has worked at a number of Post Secondary Institutions in Nova Scotia and served on the National Indigenous Education Advisory Committee for Colleges and Institutions Canada. He was appointed NSCAD University’s first Ombudsperson, and the first Indigenous Ombudsperson at a post-secondary in Canada, and is currently the Director of Indigenous Content and Connections for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.   Jude has been a speaker at national and international conferences on systemic oppression and racial identity. He was the first Canadian to be trained as a facilitator in Beyond Diversity2, Courageous Conversations about Race, and received an Award of Recognition from the Pacific Educational Group for his work in reducing the achievement gap for First Nation and African Canadian students. He received his Certified Diversity Executive designation from the Institute for Diversity Certification in Indianapolis, Indiana, was the first Mi’kmaq employee to be awarded the NS Premier’s Award of Excellence ,and has received the King Charles Coronation Medal from Universities Canada.