Yolanda J. Clark

Yolanda Clark, Ph.D., is a senior research specialist and leads the research and evaluation work for the CGS workforce development team. Her most recent work concentrates on workforce equity and the evaluation of state and federal workforce development and job training programs. Prior to joining NIU-CGS, Yolanda was an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Community Development at Delta State University. She focused on sociology of housing, social organization and change, research methods and community development. In this role, she provided leadership and technical assistance for workforce, community and economic development projects in the Mississippi Delta region.

Yolanda has over twenty years of experience in affordable housing. Prior to joining Delta State, Yolanda worked as a consultant and compliance manager responsible for conducting project management, policy analysis and programmatic assessments for affordable housing owners/agents and a HUD performance-based contractor. Her research includes examining cultural and structural factors to explain poverty and the inability to become economically self-sufficient.

Yolanda holds a Ph.D. in human capital development from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master's of science in community development from Delta State University. She has also completed the inaugural cohort of the Leaderful Communities Academy sponsored by the University of Mississippi's Community Engagement Center and the Kettering Foundation. Yolanda is a member of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP).