Thom Woodroofe

Thom Woodroofe is a Senior Fellow and the Founding Director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub, where he works on U.S.-China climate cooperation and China’s climate diplomacy. He recently served as Chief of Staff to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd during his tenure as the Asia Society’s President & CEO.

Prior to joining the Asia Society in January 2020, Thom worked as a diplomatic advisor to the president and foreign minister of a Pacific Island nation, including helping them play a key role in securing the Paris Agreement on climate change and to form the High Ambition Coalition of progressive nations. He also worked with Rohingya politicians and refugees from Myanmar to deliver key accountability mechanisms and punitive measures, such as the establishment of a UN investigative body and the imposition of targeted sanctions by countries.

Thom is a regular media commentator and writer having published over 100 opinion pieces and research papers, including for The Economist, Foreign Policy, Reuters, Nikkei Asia, The South China Morning Post, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Australian Foreign Affairs, The Australian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Wire China, among others. He has been interviewed on CNN, the BBC, NPR, and ABC.

As the founder of two national organizations in Australia, Thom has previously been recognized as the Young Victorian of the Year. He is a regular participant in the Australian American Leadership Dialogue and is also a patron of the Castlemaine State Festival held in his hometown in regional Victoria.

Thom undertook his postgraduate studies as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and is also a graduate of Monash and Melbourne Universities. He has completed a United Nations Fellowship on Peacemaking & Preventative Diplomacy and is also currently a Fellow of the Schmidt International Strategy Forum.

Email: TWoodroofe@asiasociety.org

Twitter: @thomwoodroofe