Peter Yates is The Asia Foundation’s associate director for Governance. With 15 years of experience working across South East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific, Peter has expertise in democratic development, political institutions, policy reform, subnational governance, and inclusive state-society relations. As part of the Foundation’s Program Specialists Group, he provides guidance and advice across the Foundation’s portfolio of governance programs in 19 countries, contributes to regional and thematic research, and leads in the application and training of political economy analysis. He has previously managed large, multi-donor governance programs for the Foundation, having spent time living in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Peter’s political governance work has seen him contribute to election observation missions in more than a dozen countries across the globe, including as deputy chief of mission during the 2014 Afghan Presidential election and subsequent recount.
Peter’s extensive international experience is complemented by time working within the Australian federal parliament, both as chief of staff to a member of Parliament, and as Ministerial Policy adviser to the Minister for International Development. Peter has also spent time working at the Australian Council for International Development and the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.
Education: Peter holds a master’s degree in Public Policy (International Development Policy) from the Australian National University (ANU) and bachelor’s degrees in Arts (Development Studies) and Commerce (Management) from ANU.
