Rostom Sarkissian is a Los Angeles based public affairs professional with 20+ years of experience in political and issue campaigns, project management, non-profit development, and government relations. He works with small businesses, non-profits, and public entities to apply the metric-based approaches of project management and the effective messaging, targeting and outreach strategies of political and issue campaigns. He has held leadership roles in Presidential primaries and general election campaigns in '04, 08, ’12 and ’20.
In the Los Angeles area, Mr. Sarkissian is an Adjunct Instructor at Santa Monica College where he teaches in the: Philosophy and Social Sciences Department; Emeritus Program and; Community & Contract Education departments. He teaches Pols C100 - American Government, Pol Sc E00 – Current Events, Pol Sc E10 – Music, Politics and Social Change and Pol Sc E99 - US constitution. He teaches online and in-person at Pico and Malibu campuses.
He is an active member of the Emeritus community where he represents the Emeritus faculty on the Faculty Association's Executive Committee and as the Faculty Curriculum Representative to the Academic Senate to ensure that all curriculum additions and changes are centered on the needs and interests of our students.
He was one of 30 faculty selected to participate in the SOAR AI Academy (Strategies for Optimal AI Resilience). This joint SMC-GCC professional development opportunity is a two-semester faculty development and research initiative funded by the California Education Learning Lab grant. It is "designed to help faculty integrate AI into teaching and learning while building an inter-campus community of practice." If you are an SMC or GCC faculty member interested in learning about or exploring the appropriate uses of AI for yourself or your classroom, sign up for a FREE 1:1 consultation at the link above.
His education includes an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, with a concentration in “Housing, Urban Economic Development, and Transportation.” He holds a BA in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College, and he has received concurrent educational credits from CMU’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management while he was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in Pittsburgh, PA.
As a former Coro Fellow, Mr. Sarkissian thoroughly enjoys working at the intersection where government, media, academia, non-profits, small business, and other key stakeholders meet to help shape public policy on local, state and national issues. He likes to teach political science with an emphasis on the intersectionality of all stakeholders in our country's current events. He encourages his students to go beyond classroom learning and discussion to take appropriate actions that help advance the issues and causes they care about.
He is fluent in English and Armenian and conversational in Spanish. He loves to travel!! His travels have taken him to North & South America, Europe, the Middle East and recently Asia. He loves LA almost as much as traveling because LA brings together the best parts of experiencing the world. It has diverse cultures and cuisines, world class entertainment, leading Universities and College and the ability to ski and surf in the same day - ALL set in a Mediterranean climate.
I love LA!! Go Dodgers! Io Triumphe!!