EVERETT — Kendee Yamaguchi, a former member of Snohomish County’s Executive’s Office, took a job with President Joe Biden’s administration.
Yamaguchi worked for County Executive Dave Somers’ office for six years, managing cabinet level departments and handling external relations. In January 2022, she left the executive’s office to be deputy mayor of Seattle. Now, Yamaguchi will serve as the deputy assistant secretary for U.S. Field Operations at the International Trade Administration.
Appointed by Biden, she will oversee nearly 300 trade professionals in more than 100 U.S. cities, helping U.S. businesses export their goods and services and attracting foreign direct investment to grow jobs within the United States. She will work for U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo.
“Kendee Yamaguchi has been a tireless advocate for foreign direct investment and improved trade opportunities for U.S. companies,” Somers said in a press release Monday. “Her appointment at the U.S. Department of Commerce is a great opportunity for technology, aerospace, and other major job creators to expand their reach globally.”
While working for Somers, “she was responsible for an airport which was home to the largest aerospace manufacturing facility in the world and established the nation’s first airport commercial terminal through a public/private partnership,” according to Monday’s press release.
Yamaguchi graduated from Seattle University with a law degree and is passionate about “righting past injustices” due to her family history with the Japanese American internment camps in the Pacific Northwest. She has represented the Pacific Northwest abroad as a delegate on trade missions to Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
Kayla J. Dunn: 425-339-3449; kayla.dunn@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @KaylaJ_Dunn.
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