Min. Yolanda Richard

Director of Membership and Strategic Partnerships

Min. Yolanda Richard is a talented non-profit leader, sought-after preacher, and advocate for economic justice and racial equity in New York City. Min. Richard currently serves as Director of Membership and Strategic Partnerships at FPWA where she manages all facets of FPWA relationship management and engagement with member agencies and priority strategic partners that include human service organizations, houses of worship and faith institutions, policy and advocacy organizations and other networks of influence. She currently leads and manages the design and implementation of the Roll Up Your Sleeves New York statewide vaccine education campaign to increase vaccine uptake in Black communities across the state. Through her leadership, FPWA has produced critical community resources such as the COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit for Black Communities, corresponding digital messaging and marketing materials, and a statewide field organizing campaign targeting Black New Yorkers.

Prior to this role Min. Richard has served as FPWA’s Community Outreach Manager where she led the successful design and implementation of the Interfaith Census 2020 Count Coalition. FPWA’s census campaign was credited by the City of New York as a central factor in increasing self-response rates in historically hard to count communities of color across the city. In her tenure she had also focused efforts on expanding FPWA’s capacity for political advocacy, community mobilization, engagement with for NYC’s diverse faith-based landscape. Min. Richard has had the privilege of serving in professional roles at institutions such as the Yale University, Columbia University, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and The Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in Washington, DC.

Min. Yolanda Richard received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Miami where she completed double majors in Political Science and Africana Studies, receiving departmental honors for her research. She then went on to receive her Master of Divinity from Yale University focusing her studies on the politics of Black religion in the African Diaspora. When she is not teaching, preaching, and leading you can find Yolanda backpacking, camping, and day hiking in the beautiful outdoor spaces New York has to offer.