Brett Yokom

Brett Yokom is an instructor in the Entrepreneurship Minor at California Polytechnic State University. In addition, he is a long-time instructor, presenter and workshop facilitator in UC Berkeley’s “Berkeley Global” program. He has been active in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco region for four decades and has experienced firsthand the tremendous and constant growth and change of the technology industry.

Brett worked for almost ten years in Silicon Valley itself in various sales and business development roles, then moved on to start and run two small digital media companies of his own for a number of years. He combines his start-up knowledge, intercultural experience and communication instruction skills in his current work as an educator. His areas of expertise include workplace communication; business negotiating; entrepreneurship and the founder’s journey; and almost anything related to “soft” skills.

More recently, Brett has begun work on a Ph.D. in Business Psychology, with an emphasis on the experiences of start-up founders in the tech ecosystem, and has increasingly been invited to speak and facilitate events in the Silicon Valley/SF area and beyond. 

Education

Ph.D., The Chicago School of Professional Psychology: Business Psychology (completion expected in 2022)

Master’s Degree, San Jose State University: Business Administration (M.B.A.)

B.S., California Polytechnic State University: Graphic Communication/Printing Management

Experience

Instructor: UC Berkeley Extension “Berkeley Global” program. Courses include Entrepreneurial Communication, Career Development, Business Negotiating, Organization and Management, Business English.

Instructor/Speaker/Event Facilitator: UC Berkeley Extension, Université de Technologie de Compiègne (France), Silicon Valley Forum, Kansai University (virtual program), ESADE, The Vault Korea, WhiteSpaceX, UC Berkeley StEP, UC Davis MSBA Program, Diablo Valley College International Education Center.

Presenter: TESOL Paris Spring Day 2019, CoTESOL Conference 2018; CATESOL Conference 2014 and 2018