Jessica Kennett Cork is Vice President of Community Engagement and Communications at YKK Corporation of America. Her primary responsibilities include managing government relations, public relations, and corporate communications for YKK Corporation’s North and Central America Group; serving as the regional liaison with YKK corporate headquarters in Japan for global public relations and communications; planning corporate events; managing the region’s corporate philanthropy and community outreach programs; and leading the Group’s Philosophy and Core Values initiative.

Cork is fluent in Japanese and has more than two decades of experience working in Japanese organizations. She has B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Massachusetts, and an M.A. in Advanced Japanese Studies from the University of Sheffield in the U.K. As an undergraduate, she spent one year studying at International Christian University in Tokyo. Prior to joining YKK, she worked as the Adviser for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta and spent 3 years as a Coordinator for International Relations in Hiroshima, Japan.

Cork currently serves as Vice Chair of The Japan-America Society of Georgia and Secretary of the Governing Board of the International Charter Academy of Georgia, and is a member of the Communication Committee of The Georgia Council on Economic Education. She has four children, all of whom have attended Japanese-English bilingual immersion schools in the Atlanta area and has traveled to 25 counties around the world.