Hi, I'm Yolanda!

I am a tech-savvy entrepreneur, business strategist, and single mother of two sons based in Durham, North Carolina. I run Yolanda Nichole Solutions, a management consulting practice helping mission-driven leaders build systems that last through strategic planning, operational design, and leadership alignment work for small businesses and nonprofits.

Presently self-employed, I have collaborated on projects with Luminas Strategy, U.S. Cellular (now T-Mobile), and Powertel (also acquired by T-Mobile), and have worked for FedEx, Lucent Technologies, and the Institute of Minority Economic Development. Additionally, I founded a few companies.

I'm also the author of Play Hall Pass: 50 Simple Ways to Play With Kids Without Running the Whole Thing,  a digital activity book that grew out of over a decade of family play traditions with my own boys, my nephew, and hundreds of young people I've worked with as a mentor and youth leader. The book treats the adult as a participant in play, not a facilitator of it.

I spent years as a unit and district leader for the Boy Scouts of America, where I was named District Leader of the Year and served as a council board director. I have long supported community causes serving youth, people experiencing poverty, and underserved communities across the Triangle, including current board service with Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD), Empowered Parents in Community (EPiC), and the North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board.

Previously, I also served as Board Chair and Board Treasurer for a prevous tenure at UMD, founding member of the Kenan-Flagler Business School Alumni Council, and Vice-President of Central Park School for Children’s PTA.

I earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in product management and sustainable enterprise from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia. I also completed executive programs at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the National Development Council, and Leadership North Carolina.

When I'm not consulting, writing, or board-roomed up, you'll find me line dancing, baking, hosting friends, or out exploring Durham with my two sons and our family's curious cat, Obiniah.