Lindsey Bach is the Fall 2019 Programs Junior Fellow. Originally from San Francisco, she is currently majoring in International Relations with minors in Spanish and Computer Programming at USC.

Before coming to the Pacific Council, she gathered experience working for political campaigns, interning at her hometown’s city hall and working as a volunteer instructor for the Prison Education Project and Teaching International Relations Program.

At USC, she has enjoyed acting as a student associate of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and coaching a youth soccer team. In the future, she hopes to pursue graduate education and further work at policy-based think tanks.

We sat down with Lindsey to learn more about her passion for international affairs.

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Fast Facts

Name: Lindsey Bach

Department: Programs

Hometown: San Francisco

College/University and major: International Relations Major, Spanish and Computer Programming Minors at USC

Languages spoken: Japanese, Spanish

Go-to source for interesting takes on what’s going on in the world: The Morning Brew e-mail subscription for news-in-briefs, podcasts for when I have more time (especially Planet Money and This American Life)

Areas of interest: Human rights, global security, ecological sustainability, U.S.-MENA relations

Fun fact: I used to compete in abacus (the old bead calculator) tournaments!

What drew you to the Pacific Council?

I really valued the Pacific Council’s mission to create a non-partisan conversation on international policy, and appreciated the opportunity to absorb perspectives from a broad range of political views (especially since it’s usually easy to surround ourselves with like-minded people). Also, I was excited to help integrate a West Coast perspective into the international policy conversation in conjunction with the established voices in D.C. and New York. 

When did you first realize you had a passion for international affairs?

I attended both a Japanese-taught school and a traditional American school growing up, and the dual-education first gave me an appreciation for studying the world through multiple lenses. Plus, history was always one of my favorite subjects in high school, which played a big role in choosing to major in international relations once I got to college.

What is the most interesting thing you’ve done since starting at the Pacific Council?

Helping to prepare for the PolicyWest conference! It was especially rewarding to see the materials I had prepared be used on the day of, and it was a phenomenal experience to attend the event alongside so many people who are passionate about identifying solutions to current international conflicts.

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The Pacific Council’s Junior Fellowship program offers students and recent graduates the unique opportunity to work alongside our staff of non-profit and foreign policy professionals. Learn more about the Junior Fellow program here.