Jim Yanker

Jim Yanker is a certified leadership coach with over 30 years of experience in commercial, government, and intelligence communities (IC). Jim has a TS/SCI clearance and retired from the DoD/Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at end-2020. Jim is passionate about helping clients identify and navigate solutions to their own challenges. Jim’s compassionate approach to coaching supports clients in achieving their goals by helping them to build their awareness, and make better, conscious choices.

YANKER COACHING - Build a Better Life, provides leadership, performance, career, and life coaching to a diverse range of individuals. Jim leads weekly Career Coaching Workshops and has facilitated Job Search Accountability Teams for the CNM. Jim also volunteers as a Support Coach in the Academy for Defense Intelligence (ADI), Coach Skills for Leaders course. Jim just completed work with a government contractor in the IC, where he provided both individual & group coaching at NGA.

After transitioning to government service in 2013, Jim made significant contributions to the DoD analytics team. His products received praise from a wide range of operations leaders and policy makers, and he presented several of his briefings in intelligence exchanges. Jim was sought after as a facilitator for teambuilding programs throughout the DIA.

Jim is Membership Director (volunteer) at the Materials D.C. technical society and continues to be sought out for his metallurgical subject matter expertise. Jim provided formal metallurgy training throughout the DIA. These programs were like the workshops he ran in hundreds of steel mills across more than forty countries during his tenure in the private sector.

Prior to 2013, Jim was a global marketing executive with expertise in the commercial steel and specialty alloys industry. His experience included a post in the Netherlands where he was the international director for a new acquisition. His responsibilities included sales & marketing, operations, and leading teambuilding to integrate a European acquisition into a U.S. corporation, changing from commodity to a value-based culture.

Jim received his MBA in Operations Research & Statistics from The University of Maryland, and a BS in Metallurgy from Pennsylvania State University. He is an avid cyclist & fitness fanatic, and a global traveler with a passion for learning about other cultures and supporting diversity wherever he may find himself.