MPP, University of California, Berkeley; MPH, University of California, Berkeley; BA in journalism, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Kimberly Jackson is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on special operations, military personnel policy, counterterrorism, security sector assistance programs, national security organizations, and military culture.
Prior to her work at RAND, Jackson held several positions in the Pentagon, including as the deputy director for Levant policy, the senior Syria policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense, and as the director for various counterterrorism programs, including Section 1208. Jackson also has experience as a planner in three different special operations commands, including in a forward deployed capacity, and as a management consultant for General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal. She served previously as the military and veterans advisor to U.S. Senator Mark Dayton, 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, Twin Cities. She is also an officer in the United States Navy Reserve, where she has had assignments within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Naval Special Warfare and in the CNO's Strategic Studies Group.
