Keith Yamashita
Chairman & Founder
For the past two decades, Keith Yamashita has worked alongside CEOs and their leadership teams to define—and then attain—greatness for their institutions. He has worked with leaders at Apple, IBM, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, eBay, Nike, and Gap, among others.
Keith founded, and currently serves as chairman of, SYPartners—a firm steeped in the belief that transformation of individuals, teams, and institutions requires equal parts empathy, aspiration, and a bravery to act. Because the art of transformation requires many different perspectives, the firm consists of strategists, designers, leadership development experts, and application developers.
From 2009 to 2011, Keith served as The Charles and Ray Eames Brand Fellow at IBM—a post dedicated to driving IBM’s growth and greatness as an institution and enabling IBMers to perform at their best. In that role, Keith worked side by side with leaders to formulate the company's brand strategy and design, to deliver a year-long commemoration of IBM's centennial around the globe, and to launch a shared agenda with the world about building a smarter planet.
Keith is an author and essayist on leadership and design, having published in the Harvard Business Review and several journals. He has lectured at the Yale School of Management, Stanford Business School, and the Jack F. Welch Leadership Center. He holds an MA in organizational behavior and a BA in quantitative economics from Stanford University.
Keith founded, and currently serves as chairman of, SYPartners—a firm steeped in the belief that transformation of individuals, teams, and institutions requires equal parts empathy, aspiration, and a bravery to act. Because the art of transformation requires many different perspectives, the firm consists of strategists, designers, leadership development experts, and application developers.
From 2009 to 2011, Keith served as The Charles and Ray Eames Brand Fellow at IBM—a post dedicated to driving IBM’s growth and greatness as an institution and enabling IBMers to perform at their best. In that role, Keith worked side by side with leaders to formulate the company's brand strategy and design, to deliver a year-long commemoration of IBM's centennial around the globe, and to launch a shared agenda with the world about building a smarter planet.
Keith is an author and essayist on leadership and design, having published in the Harvard Business Review and several journals. He has lectured at the Yale School of Management, Stanford Business School, and the Jack F. Welch Leadership Center. He holds an MA in organizational behavior and a BA in quantitative economics from Stanford University.
