Jane Zimmerman

Jane Zimmerman has enjoyed a decades-long career in public service, whether as an international nonprofit executive, senior U.S. diplomat, a college professor, or civic leader and volunteer.  She loves to transform vision and mission into strategy and impact.  Having worked under Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, she embraces his 13 rules of leadership.

For over 25 years, Jane served as a U.S. State Department Foreign Service officer.  Most recently, during a period of major transition, she was the Chief of Staff at the GLIDE Foundation, an iconic nonprofit and social justice organization in San Francisco, CA.  She served as the Managing Director of a family foundation advancing women, peace, and security.  From 2019 to 2021, Jane served as the Director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program at Davidson College in North Carolina.  From 2017 to 2019, she was the Executive Director and CEO of the American Research Center in Egypt, and from 2013 to 2016, she was the Executive Director for International Policy & External Affairs at the American Red Cross.

As a career U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer, Jane served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.  Her overseas assignments in the Foreign Service included Cyprus, Israel and the Gaza Strip, Tunisia, Brazil, and Mali.  Her foreign languages include French, Portuguese, and Arabic.  She is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Career Achievement Award, four Superior Honor Awards, two Meritorious Honor Awards, and an Award for Excellence in Community Service.  She has a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and a Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College.

Jane is married and has a college-aged son.  She and her purebred “foodhound” Pepper have volunteered as a certified therapy dog team at hospitals, schools, shelters, detention facilities, and airports, and kept our community safe from squirrels since 2015.