This month the Pacific Council welcomed Thomas Zimmerman to the team as our new Chief Officer of Events and Trips. He is new to the West Coast as well, recently relocating from the East Coast, where he worked at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University and served as Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor during the Obama administration.

We caught up with Thomas to share more about his new role and introduce him to Pacific Council members.

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Pacific Council: Thomas, what has been a highlight of your career in foreign policy so far?

Thomas Zimmerman: I was at the National Security Council (NSC) during a very interesting time. It was during the Arab Spring and the signing of the New START nuclear reduction deal with Russia. I probably learned more in those two years than in any other job I’ve had so far.

I’ve also been lucky to work at a lot of different policy levels which has proved beneficial. At the NSC, for example, you see how policy and decisions are made and executed.

When I worked in Kabul, I was able to see how programs are implemented in the field, and both their intended and unintended consequences. These different perspectives have informed each other in my work.

As a Pacific Council member, what do you find the be the greatest value or benefit of membership?

A lot of similar institutions on the East Coast operate in the same space. Traditional think tanks have members but they are narrowly involved in any given organization because there are so many of them. 

The Pacific Council is unique because there aren’t many institutions that fill the same space here in Southern California. People are involved in and dedicated to the Council in ways that I haven’t seen elsewhere. 

The Council also offers a unique opportunity by drawing on the expertise of the membership to give members a platform they should have but maybe haven’t been able to access through other channels.

What are you most looking forward to in this new role?

I have mostly worked on the East Coast, and I’m finding there is a huge amount of expertise and experience here on the West Coast that we never tapped into in D.C. I want to make sure that a diverse array of voices in LA are reflected in policy debates. We’re at an interesting moment where cities and states are playing a larger role in international policy. Because this is a relatively new space, cities and actors on the West Coast need to engage in ways that advance the interests of their citizens.

Along those lines, cities and states are being called to work on issues on which they haven’t previously, and that’s exciting. But it leaves open questions, such as what is the appropriate role for a city in what has been traditionally national or international conversations?

I’m only starting to scratch the surface of the expertise of our membership, but I’m excited to learn what everyone is working on, and I want to bring those voices into broader state-level and national debates. 

Should we anticipate changes to Pacific Council events and trips in the future?

Expect to see a wider range of formats for events and trips. I also want to find ways to reach and draw on a diversity of communities. We should use our platforms to amplify perspectives that are underrepresented and put them in front of policymakers and also the broader LA community.