Uzbekistan is not a country that Paul Yankey thought much about since grade school. As an instructor of marketing in the College of Business with a focus on ethical practices, Yankey knew where it was on a map; but like most people, he didn’t know much about the Central Asian country. Until he connected with an old friend from high school. 

He hadn’t kept in touch with Jonathan Henick, an old classmate. But through a mutual connection, Yankey was reconnected with Henick.   

“And I said, well, ‘hey, Jonathan, what are you up to these days?’ And he says, ‘well, actually, Paul, you’re calling me in Uzbekistan.’” After catching up, Paul discovered that Henick is the U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan.  

Furthermore, Yankey learned that his name had come up in a recent conversation between the U.S. ambassador and the Uzbekistan Minister of Health. Henick invited Yankey to visit not only because of their connection, but because of Yankey’s extensive work with the non-business organization Resource Exchange International.  

Resource Exchange International, or REI, has been bringing professionals to developing countries all over the world for over 32 years. Doctors, business professionals, education professionals and English teachers travel to countries that can be challenging to enter in order to exchange expertise to help advance procedures and know-how. “It’s all about delivering and bringing people, not so much stuff or money,” said Yankey.  

After a successful 30-year career in corporate America, Yankey looked for places to invest his time that brought meaning and impact. He had already been volunteering with REI for close to 10 years, making several trips to Southeast Asia, and had served on each post of their board, including as Chairman. Yankey also began teaching at UCCS in the College of Business in the Bachelor for Innovation program. “What I’m passionate about is ethical marketing. And the aspect of being able to incorporate within businesses more of a heart. And particularly in their sales practices,” said Yankey. 

REI began working in Uzbekistan roughly 30 years ago, but chose to leave because of elements of political unrest, due to which other NGOs were later asked to leave. But the organization has recently restarted its work in the country.  

“I had been starting to get reacclimated to Uzbekistan because REI restarted work there about two years ago,” said Yankey. “And we had two individuals that were there working at a university and working a little bit as a beachhead to help to bring in other professionals.” 

Through REI’s connection to Uzbekistan and because of Henick’s invitation, Yankey traversed the long and complex journey to the country to give guest lectures at a university. 

“When I was out there, I spoke at this brand new university on entrepreneurship and innovation. It was vibrant, it was beautiful. The population was very engaged. Lots of questions, lots of interaction from the students,” said Yankey. “They have a median population of 28, so it’s a very young country.” 

“They are hungry and ready and willing and wanting to excel and learn and grow in this country,” Yankey continued. “The students were so energetic, so fresh, so new. And so many of them have never even been out of their country. This is a beautiful situation here of being able to just ignite them.” 

To Yankey, this opportunity to share knowledge goes both ways. As Western professionals share their expertise, they also gain different perspectives.  

“Every doctor that I’ve known that’s gone to one of the different countries that REI is involved in has come back and said, ‘I learned something from that,’ about a different way to maybe do something or to look at something, which I’ve learned from my time at UCCS,” said Yankey. “I used to work in the Bachelor of Innovation. And that’s one thing that’s paramount to innovation is different points of view, different perspectives coming together to allow creative ways to think about something, or to think about a potential hurdle or challenge, or ways to do things.” 

After Yankey’s energizing trip to Uzbekistan and his rekindling of an old relationship with the now U.S. ambassador, the Uzbekistan Ambassador to the United States, Furkat Sidikov, reached out to Yankey. 

Sidikov wished to discuss with Yankey opportunities for collaboration.  

“To me, this now takes on a different level of magnitude of potential influence,” said Yankey. “Now I’m able to have communication with both sides of ambassadors. And they both have shared interest to want to have things happen.” 

Yankey sees immense potential in Uzbekistan for progress. He sees a country with the desire to grow and modernize. And more importantly to Yankey, the opportunity for influence through Western partnerships.   

“What I pieced together was that it’s a country that’s going through significant change, change in a positive way, in regards to transparency, in regards to openness, in regards to openness to outside investment, outside influence,” said Yankey. “They’re wanting to grow, they’re wanting to be transparent, they’re wanting to engage free markets. And it’s a journey. It’s not necessarily just going to happen overnight.” 

“I think another way that I could describe transparency is a little bit less opaqueness or some might even say elements of corruption in government,” Yankey continued. “To allow some of that clarity to come to things.” 

Uzbekistan is in Central Asia and is one of only two double landlocked countries on earth. It has a divers demographic and a rich cultural history as a corridor for the Silk Road.  

“As I’ve gotten more and more attuned to this country, it’s like, wow, this is really dynamic,” said Yankey. “And also diverse. There’s been so many different cultures, so many different religions, so many different schools of thought that have come together in various ways in the country of Uzbekistan.” 

Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union until it declared its independence in 1991. Under its first president, the country made little progress from its condition under Soviet rule. In 2008, non-governmental human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as United States Department of State and Council of the European Union, define Uzbekistan as “an authoritarian state with limited civil rights.” From slavery, strict regulation of the press, and dubious elections, Uzbekistan has struggled.  

It has also had a tenuous relationship with the West. Although the United States had an Airforce base in Uzbekistan after the events of 9/11 for collaborative efforts, it was asked to vacate after protests erupted in Andijan – a protest that led to what is known as the Andijan massacre. Conflicting narratives exist around the event; but at the time, Uzbekistan officials claimed that the United States helped to instigate the protest. 

But change is progressing. Uzbekistan’s second president has issued sweeping reforms, including the significant reduction of forced labor, and has replaced many of the government officials who were loyal to the oppressive first president.     

“They’ve been through different elements of change in their leadership, and the leader that they have now is moving a lot down this path. And as I said, it’s a journey,” said Yankey. 

“They’re trying to be a more westernized, open nation,” Yankey continued. “As far as things that I’ve seen that are tangible: They are about as easy as you can get as far as doing business in the country. They’ve done so much to remove barriers, to remove taxation barriers, to remove what are sometimes unnecessary ‘gotchas’ in doing business in such a country.” 

“They want outside foreign investment, whereas not all countries do.” 

One of the potential partnerships between the United States and Uzbekistan that Yankey foresees is in the medical industry. Uzbekistan has the potential to meet the need for nurses in America by having their health-care professionals work in the U.S. for a time, gaining experience to bring back to their country while filling a shortage in the U.S. “That’s a beautiful equation,” said Yankey. “It’s one that’s been prevalent in other countries in the world for years. The Philippines has been doing this for some time. Other countries have been doing it for some time.” 

Another opportunity would be in pharmaceuticals. Many of the U.S.’s pharmaceuticals are produced in India, and Uzbekistan is interested in doing the same, according to Yankey. 

“This is what it takes. These are the wheels that get turning here to make influence and opportunity happen.” 

From Yankey’s point of view, the current movement and changes in Uzbekistan are the right ones to help its economic future. And to improve the welfare of the people of Uzbekistan. 

“I look at a lot of what they’re doing as the right things that will help with a lot of equality promotion in their country. Which they still have some ways to go. Their rankings in that area are still not where we want them to be.” 

And that is where Yankey sees the most potential in Uzbekistan. Non-governmental organizations and business partnerships have the opportunity to positively influence the country and uplift its people by introducing values of openness, transparency and individual rights. Which would be significant to the country, and to Central Asia. 

To many, Uzbekistan is seen as the doorway to Central Asia. It is bordered by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It’s significance to the region has not gone unnoticed by other global superpowers such as Russia and China as well as other players such as Iran and Afghanistan. Each is vying for influence, including in the intellectual realm. “I got to see in the university setting, there’s intellectuals there from Taiwan, from Korea, from China, from Russia, all trying and vying to have their influence in different ways of thinking,” said Yankey. 

Yankey sees an opportunity for the United States to generate influence in Uzbekistan, while recognizing that there must be economic value for a business to invest in the country. 

“But if you can connect economic return along with influence, the bigger, deeper meaning, which I think we all desire, is to be part of something bigger,” said Yankey.  

“That also takes unique people that are able to have that vision. They’re able to see that element of influence.”  

Yankey is passionate about connecting economic opportunity with influence that supports democratic values in an authoritarian country that is showing signs of desiring progress. 

For UCCS, Yankey sees tremendous opportunity through possible student exchanges and partnerships. “I think UCCS could be at the tip of the spear on this and opening this up in a lot of different ways,” said Yankey. “So I would like to get more of a coalition together. I would like to get interested parties at UCCS engaged, faculty of all genres.” 

But he is also the first to say that the road ahead is not entirely clear. What those partnerships might look like need further exploration. Exchange programs can be difficult to get off the ground, even to destination countries such as France or Spain. But that is not stopping him form pursuing possible connections.  

“I’m a big believer that before the reality comes, you first dream it,” said Yankey. 

And Yankey is looking for those dreams in the inspiration of others. “There’s different people that are involved and engaged and I want those smart people, people smarter than me, to bring this together,” said Yankey. “That’s what I see with the university.” 

If you would like to connect with Yankey to learn more or to get involved, please contact him at [email protected]. 

Yankey’s surprising phone call with an old classmate connected his passion for bringing a heart to business and empowering people to a country across the globe. Uzbekistan is opening doors of opportunity for influence to uplift a people.   

“They’re human beings too, and they have their ups and downs. And in fact, they have a lot of things that are oppressing them more than we do. I see this as a greater vision of what impact can be made positively,” said Yankey. “Yes for free markets. Yes for economic empowerment. Yes for equal rights. But also what can be done to help make a greater respect for all mankind throughout the world. And to have people be uplifted.” 

About the UCCS College of Business 

The UCCS College of Business was established in 1965 and has more than 1,300 undergraduates and 350 MBA students. The College of Business and Administration awards the Bachelor of Science in Business and Bachelor of Innovation degrees. The Graduate School of Business Administration awards the Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Accounting and Executive Doctor of Business Administration degrees. More than 10,000 alumni of the College of Business live and work around the world. For more information, visit  uccs.edu/business.