April Yacoub is a senior Cross-Cultural Consultant who coaches executives and leads management programs designed to help individuals in expatriate transition and global business effectiveness. Ms. Yacoub focuses on the client’s cultural work style and behaviors that affect international business communication, leadership roles, interpersonal relationships and conflict resolution. She also prepares them to work with a specific country such as China, Denmark, Japan, or the US.
With over 20 years of international experience in more than 40 countries, and experience of living and working in Japan, Israel and throughout Europe, she brings a global point of view to her work. Participants in her programs come from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and from a broad range of industries that include information technology, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and food service.
Ms. Yacoub has extensive experience in developing training content based on organizational and individual cultural knowledge gaps, and tailoring presentations and exercises for executives to mid-level managers to children based on their specific needs. She also helps prepare individuals and families to thrive professionally and socially in their temporary expat assignment.
April received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of California, and her Master of Science degree in International Relations and Development from the Aalborg University in Denmark. In addition to her native English, she is proficient in German, Spanish, and Japanese with a basic knowledge of Arabic, Tagalog and Visayan. Prior to consulting in Europe, she worked at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium and assisted at the U.S. Consulate in Dusseldorf, Germany and the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark.
She has co-written several blogs for the Association of Talent Development on international business experiences such as Get to Work or Get to Know: A Close-Up on Diverse Cultures; Am I Polite Enough for Your Country; and Does it Matter Where You Sit in a Meeting?
Clients she has served include: Carlsberg, Caterpillar, Coloplast, Danfoss, Dell, Ferrosan Medical Devices, Ford, Fujitsu, Harmon International Industries, Hitachi Metals, Johnson & Johnson, LEGO, NEC, Nike, Nissan-Renault, Nokia, Novo Nordisk, NTT, SAP, Symantec, Stanley Black & Decher, Starbucks, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Toyota.
