Yul Kwon
Winner of 'Survivor: Cook Islands
Yul Kwon won the hit CBS reality show Survivor: Cook Islands during 2006’s controversial, racially segregated season. On his way to victory, Kwon skillfully led a multi-ethnic team, earned a reputation as one of the show’s most strategic and honest players, and smashed stereotypes about Asian American men in the media. Most recently, Kwon has…
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Full Bio
Yul Kwon won the hit CBS reality show Survivor: Cook Islands during 2006’s controversial, racially segregated season. On his way to victory, Kwon skillfully led a multi-ethnic team, earned a reputation as one of the show’s most strategic and honest players, and smashed stereotypes about Asian American men in the media.
Most recently, Kwon has hosted PBS’s America Revealed, a four-part documentary series that takes a unique look at what makes America tick—specifically, the industrial operations that dominate a lot of daily life in the United States. Kwon’s other recent activities include working as a special correspondent for CNN, appearing as a regular guest lecturer at the FBI Academy, and speaking at many of the country’s top corporations and universities, including Yahoo, Verizon, AT&T, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Dell, Yale, Duke, and Northwestern. He has been active in a number of charitable efforts and has organized a nationwide campaign to increase the number of minority bone marrow donors—a cause he began championing when his best friend died from leukemia in college.
Kwon obtained his B.S. degree in symbolic systems from Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and received the James Lyons Award for Service. He went on to Yale Law School and served on the editorial board of the Yale Law Journal. Following graduation, Kwon enjoyed a diverse career straddling both the private and public sectors in law, politics, business, and technology. As an attorney, he clerked on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and practiced a mix of litigation, appellate, transactional, and regulatory work at several law firms. As a legislative aide to Senator Joseph Lieberman, he helped draft portions of the Homeland Security Act, authored a landmark bill on nanotechnology, and organized a bipartisan caucus on science and technology. Several years ago, Kwon transitioned into the business sector, first joining McKinsey as a management consultant and then crossing over to Google’s business strategy group.
Kwon was recently named in VIBE Magazine’s annual “Juice” list of upcoming people who will change the world, People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive and Hottest Bachelor’s issues, and EXTRA TV’s list of Most Eligible Bachelors.
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LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
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BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
Beyond Math Geeks & China Dolls: Overcoming Stereotypes About Asian Americans to Find Success in the Real World
Value of Diversity (College Audiences)
Asian American Empowerment (Asian American Audiences, including College Students)
Value of Diversity (Corporate Audiences)
Overcoming the Glass Ceiling (Asian American Corporate Audiences)
Beyond Math Geeks & China Dolls: Overcoming Stereotypes About Asian Americans to Find Success in the Real World
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Newsmakers - Yul Kwon
Books
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Testimonials
Yul was amazing! He’s so charming, wise, humble, thoughtful, caring, humorous, engaging and everything!!! Yul is the complete package. Some students told me yesterday that he’s the best speaker they’ve ever heard! I mostly appreciate how Yul went out of his way to accommodate the request from GVSU’s television and radio station to do some promos for the PBS station after his interviews. I highly recommend him to other clients. It was a day well spent for me, personally.
Grand Valley State University
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