Jen Thompson is a lawyer and a recovering political campaign manager and senior counsel in the United States House of Representatives and Senate. She was also a lawyer-lobbyist at two of Washington, D.C.’s largest international law firms. In recent years, Jen has served as a Chief of Staff at two historic, liberal arts colleges and universities in California and Virginia, currently at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California.

​

Jen’s claim to fame from her political years is successfully making up for a $12 million political campaign deficit (in 2002 dollars) with earned media by orchestrating five events with the President of the United States and dozens of other key political figures. For eight years, Jen was the chief political commentator on both NBC-12 and ABC-8 News in Richmond, Virginia. She has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, The Chicago Tribune, and many other news publications. She has also served as lead on dozens of major events featuring over seventy politicians and government figures, including two Presidents of the United States, Vice Presidents, a First Lady, foreign ambassadors, Rajmohan Gandhi (biographer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi), and over forty Senators, Members of Congress, and Cabinet Secretaries.

​

Jen left politics after managing the most nationally watched Senate campaign in 2002 – the race that tipped a 50-50 divided U.S. Senate back to Republican control. After the campaign, she moved to Australia, where she received a visiting professorship at the University of Melbourne. That time in her life ushered in an epic inner sea change, transforming her politically, spiritually, and personally. Her time in Australia also launched her passion for higher education, which she has been deeply committed to ever since.

​

Born in Chicago, Jen has lived in twelve cities, seven states, and three countries, and she’s traveled to many more. Her first book will be distributed by Simon and Schuster in September 2026.