Ken Yates

As Senior Vice President for Jefferson Waterman International, Ken Yates manages JWI public relations services including the development and coordination of comprehensive public relations strategies for governments, the media, and international decision makers. He develops communications materials, media exposures, and public affairs events.

Mr. Yates has more than three decades of international experience in media relations and public affairs, particularly in East Asia. In three decades as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State and the United States Information Agency, he was a principal architect of US communications and public relations programming in East Asia, Europe, and Southwest Asia. He managed an American Center and created/operated press facilities for a Presidential summit in South Korea; directed public affairs programming and media relations for U.S. embassies in The People’s Republic of China, Iceland, and Afghanistan; was responsible for policy and public opinion research in Japan; and conducted survey research projects in Lebanon and Iran. These assignments gave Mr. Yates the opportunity to live and work in Korea, Japan, The People’s Republic of China, Iceland, and Afghanistan.

Mr. Yates served as a principal advisor on international public relations to the Commander in Chief of Joint US Pacific Forces, with responsibilities for Command’s public and media relations throughout the Pacific and Asia. He served as a diplomatic representative and negotiator for the Department of State at the North Korean nuclear site at Nyongbyun following the 1994 Framework Agreement.

Among Mr. Yates’ awards for his public service is decoration by the U.S. Navy for his services with the Pacific Command. He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. He speaks Korean, Japanese, and some Chinese.