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In 2002, Ben Yarrow worked as research director on Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s successful gubernatorial campaign. When the governor-elect invited him to join her administration, Ben asked to become a speechwriter. He was 23 years old. Two short years — and many long speeches — later, Ben would become the governor's Chief Writer.
Following his Michigan days, and before joining West Wing Writers, Ben was the Director of Communications for the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Office of President Bill Clinton. In addition to serving as President Clinton’s chief speechwriter and spokesperson, Ben oversaw communications strategy, planning, and execution for the Clinton Foundation’s global operations, as well as President Clinton’s philanthropic activities and events in the U.S. and abroad.
Today, Ben helps high-profile CEOs, celebrity-activists, and nonprofit leaders craft strategic communications products and plans. His writing on behalf of international luminaries has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, and Time. Ben also serves as a strategic communications consultant to philanthropies, political campaigns, and private institutions.
Prior to his work with President Clinton, Ben shaped message and strategy on political campaigns in the American heartland, worked in state and local government administrations in policy and communications capacities, and — the job that least prepared him for speechwriting, but most prepared him for life — was a handyman in Switzerland.
Ben graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Macalester College. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Allison Yarrow, a writer and journalist. |
