Prior to joining the International Center for Digital Threat Assessment, Doug had been the communications manager for the Surrey School District—the largest school district in B.C.—for 16 years. He was also the district’s privacy officer. Doug was a member of the school district’s Critical Incident Response team, as well as the Communications Officer for the district Emergency Operations Centre. He worked closely with the Safe Schools department as well as the Media Relations Unit of the Surrey RCMP, Canada’s largest RCMP detachment. Doug had also established solid working relationships with the regional homicide and sexual crimes police investigation units that assisted him with crisis communications on a number of occasions.
Doug started his communications career working as a reporter at BCTV, then CKNW Radio. He later became the national director of external relations for Telus with responsibilities for crisis communications and emergency operations. He left Telus for a media consulting career, providing media planning and management services for the Air India and Robert Pickton trials for the B.C. Ministry of Attorney General, before joining the school district. Doug has been a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society since 1998 and has served on the executive of the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education for nine years, including as president.