Ken A. Yates
Ken Yates is a Senior Vice President of Jefferson Waterman International. Mr. Yates manages JWI public relations services, which are integrated into the full range of international relations services that the firm provides. Mr. Yates develops and coordinates comprehensive public relations strategies targeted to government, the media, and international decision makers. He then executes strategies by developing and coordinating communications materials, media exposure, and public affairs events.
Ken Yates has more than three decades of international experience in media relations and public affairs, specializing in East Asia. In his long service with the United States Information Agency, Mr. Yates was the principal architect of a variety of communications and public relations efforts in East Asia, Europe, and Southwest Asia. He created and managed press facilities for a Presidential summit in South Korea; directed public affairs and media relations for U.S. embassies in China and Iceland; formulated embassy media relations in Afghanistan; conducted public opinion research and analytical projects in Japan; and conducted public information assessment projects in Lebanon and Iran. These and other assignments gave Mr. Yates the opportunity to live and work in Korea, Japan, China, Iceland, and Afghanistan.
Mr. Yates served as a principal advisor on international public relations to the Commander in Chief of Joint U.S. Pacific Forces, focusing on media relations throughout the Pacific and Asian regions. His services as a diplomatic representative and negotiator for the Department of State in nuclear control affairs related to the 1994 Framework Agreement included extended periods and negotiations in North Korea.
Mr. Yates has received numerous awards for his public affairs activities, was decorated by the U.S. Navy for his advisory services, and holds a B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He speaks Korean, Japanese, and some Chinese.
