Yolanda was born and raised in Rochester, NY where she was proudly educated in the public school system and graduated from a magnet public high school.  Having an “in-house college and career counselor,” in the person of her mother, Yolanda assumed that all students had a plan, a path and a process for going to college.  She soon discovered that was not the case, as many of her friends either did not attend college or attended briefly, only to return home after a semester or two.  She garnered many academic scholarships and was able to attend Spelman College, a private, residential, liberal arts, historically black college which set the path for her continued educational endeavors.  ​

Yolanda is a music afficionado and loves all genres from classical to [old school] hip hop.  She is a vocalist and has had stints singing background for jazz and R&B artists in live and studio sessions.  She has an uncanny knowledge of the lyrics to thousands of songs from Broadway show tunes, to folk, to gospel, to rap, to rock.  She is a serious thinker but enjoys raucous laughter and doing impressions for family and friends.  Yolanda holds many important roles, the most important of which are: wife, mom of three children, eldest of three girls, sorority sister, active community member and loyal friend.