Program Officer – North Lawndale
Yolanda Lawler is Program Officer for Steans Family Foundation’s North Lawndale initiatives. In her role, Yolanda works with community-based organizations to increase the number of North Lawndale children, aged birth to five years-old, who are prepared to be successful in Kindergarten. Yolanda’s responsibilities include collaborating with community-based partners that mentor and support middle school students as they transition to high school. Prior to joining SFF, Yolanda was a Research and Policy Intern at the Safer Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to support, through a full spectrum of services, the efforts of people with arrest & conviction records to become employed, law-abiding members of the community and, as a result, reduce recidivism. She also served as an IT Contractor at Grant Thornton in Oakbrook.
Yolanda is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, with a B.A. in Government/International Relations. She received her Master of Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In Yolanda’s spare time, she collects art, reads widely and takes care of a Little Free Library. She also enjoys spending time with her mother, son, and their cats.