A lifelong educator, Yolanda worked across K-12 and higher education for over 15 years. She was a college counselor before assuming her current role as the Director of Counselor Marketing, where she works closely with Appily and Match, powered by Concourse. Her advocacy and support of students included creating an anti-bias guide for recommendation letters, introducing innovative programming such as a college Mythbusters panel and chats with admissions deans, and serving alongside a coalition of educators and state legislators to advocate for need-based financial aid in Georgia.
As the Associate Director of Recruitment, Scholar Selection, and Operations for the Levine Scholars Program at UNC Charlotte, Yolanda wrote the program’s first diversity statement, implemented Safe Zone training for her team, created a travel grant to support low-income students, and established gender-neutral housing options and preferred-name protocols for transgender students.
Prior to her time at UNC Charlotte, she served as an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UNC Chapel Hill. While there, she created and led the Counselors & Colleagues Team, represented the university at regional and national recruitment events, and served as an advocate for first-generation college students like herself.
Yolanda earned her Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and spent her undergraduate years at the University of Missouri, earning degrees in Journalism and Black Studies. Yolanda has evaluated applications for UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, the Coca-Cola Scholars Program, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation; served as an interviewer for The Gates Scholarship; organized the Atlanta Invitational Case Studies program; volunteered as a College Coach for ScholarMatch and PeerForward; and sat on the Advisory Board of the Women + Girls Research Alliance, the Counselor Advisory Board for The Ohio State University, and the NACAC Ad Hoc Committee on Centering Students in the Development of Equitable Admission Practices.
