President & CEO

Yolonda C. Richardson
Yolonda C. Richardson is a dynamic leader and recognized expert on gender issues, reproductive health, international development, U.S. philanthropy and corporate responsibility. She has appeared as an expert source in top media outlets, including the Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor, C-SPAN, Knight-Ridder and National Public Radio.

As the President and CEO of CEDPA, Richardson provides overall direction for the organization and its programs, projects and funding throughout the world. Her leadership ensures the success of CEDPA’s efforts in girls’ education and youth development, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, and gender and governance.

Throughout Richardson’s career she has been committed to social development globally, with a particular expertise in development in Africa. She served as Special Counsel for the African Development Foundation, a government-funded agency that provides financial support to African non-governmental organizations. From 1999 to 2002, she served as Senior Vice President of Africare, where she oversaw more than 150 development projects throughout Africa.

Prior to joining Africare, Richardson spent ten years at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a global foundation, where she managed an international grant program focused on women’s health and development.

Having practiced as a corporate attorney at the Wall Street law firm, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, she continues to be a member of the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association. She is also a member of the Association of Black Foundation Executives, Women in Philanthropy, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group. She serves on the board of directors of InterAction and the Society for International Development.

Richardson holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Columbia University and a Juris Doctorate from Yale University School of Law. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Dillard University in New Orleans.

Board of Directors

Chair
Carol Peasley

Chair Emeritus
Kaval Gulhati

Vice Chair
Ann Van Dusen

Treasurer
Suzn K. Stewart

Secretary
Doris Mason Martin

CEDPA President & CEO
Yolonda C. Richardson

Board Members

Cheri Alexander
The Honorable Phoebe M. Asiyo
Susan Marie Benton
Barie Carmichael
Paul Isenman
Rita Khanna
Nobantu Prudence Mabele
Geri Mannion
Karen McNeil-Miller
Joan L. Migliori
Jodi Taylor, Ph.D.