Kimberly Jackson is a senior international/defense researcher at RAND with over two decades of experience as a national security analyst, advisor, and senior government executive. Her research focuses on military culture, special operations, organizational leadership, military personnel policy, defense strategy, and operational and strategic readiness.
Until July 2024, she served as Chief of Staff in the Department of Veterans Affairs, managing the agency’s 451,000 employees and $325B budget. From 2021-2023, she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Readiness in the Department of Defense (DoD), responsible for policy, strategic guidance, and oversight of U.S. military readiness.
Prior to entering the Biden/Harris Administration, Jackson worked from 2015-2021 as a RAND researcher and professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She was also a United States Navy Reserve officer until 2020, where she held assignments in Naval Special Warfare and in the Chief of Naval Operations' Strategic Studies Group.
Jackson began her civilian service in DoD as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2009, and held positions in special operations, security assistance, Syria policy. Previously, she was a defense policy advisor in the U.S. Senate, where she spearheaded legislation to create the National Guard and Reserve Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.
Jackson holds an M.P.P. and an M.P.H. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota. She teaches courses on decision-making in national security and policy writing, and is a contributing editor at War on the Rocks.
M.P.P., University of California, Berkeley; M.P.H., University of California, Berkeley; B.A. in journalism, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
