[2] In 2001, while working on a consulting project in South Africa for McKinsey & Company, Thum met people who lived in the townships and countryside who did not have access to safe water and adequate sanitation.
[7] In 2013, Thum launched Liberty United, an organization that partners with American communities and law enforcement to take illegal guns and bullet shell casings released from evidence and to create jewelry and other accessories in order to fund programs to reduce gun violence.
[8][9] Thum advises companies and not-for-profit organizations on strategic issues including growth, marketing, corporate social responsibility programs, fundraising, and venture creation.
[10] He has served on multiple boards, including those of The Center for Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College; The Starbucks Foundation; The Fund for Global Human Rights; USA for UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency); Impossible to Possible; The Deans Council of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; Feed Projects, and; Tactivate.
[20] As of 2010, Thum lives in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, with his wife, actress Cara Buono, and their daughter.