🎉 Exciting GBC Announcement: Meet Our New Executive Director!🎉
On behalf of the entire GBC Board of Directors, I am so excited to introduce Yolanda Richard as our new Executive Director and welcome her to Good Business Colorado!
The installment of our new ED began with a thoughtful two-month interview process, facilitated by a dynamic team of board members, staff, and GBC members. Throughout this period Yolanda consistently exhibited compassionate, capable, and ethical leadership qualities that deeply impressed and inspired us. We heard her “why,” — her passion for small businesses and vision for the future of GBC, her love for the State of Colorado and its rural communities. We heard her commitment to advocacy, racial and economic justice, and climate justice. We saw her compassion, warmth, and kindness towards our staff and members. It was by no surprise that all of our efforts culminated in a unanimous vote to install her as our new Executive Director.
As you will see in her bio below, Yolanda has an impressive background in nonprofits, with significant fundraising and management experience at membership organizations. She brings a thoughtful operational mindset and strong strategic vision that I’m confident will help lead our unique organization into and through the next phase.
The hiring process and beginnings of onboarding with Yolanda have led me to reflect on why my work with GBC has felt so valuable and fulfilling. My best way to describe this is what I see as the magic of GBC. My involvement began with finding my voice in the policy sphere and seeing our collective input reflected in policies that became law. As GBC has grown and developed over the years, I am continually inspired and empowered to see so many like-minded yet diverse business owners engage with our work and dedicate countless hours and efforts to our vision for a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable Colorado.
Our recent awards event was a fantastic window into all the ways our members show up - maybe this year, you testified for the first time or worked on our first-ever GBC-run bill; perhaps you were a presenter at our LevelUp Academy conference or you attended a session and took action to strengthen your business; maybe you served on a GBC committee, responded to a call to action, attended a policy or networking event, or invited others to join us. No matter how you engaged with us this year, we appreciate every contribution and couldn’t do it without you!
Everything that we do at GBC is truly member-led, which shined through at a recent funder meeting where numerous members were invited to share their experiences working with GBC and explain the impact of our work on their business and communities. This resonated so strongly with our funder that GBC was awarded a large multi-year grant. With all these accomplishments and you, our membership, always at the heart of our organization, I am excited for all there is to come with Yolanda now taking the lead in our next phase of growth.
But as I reflect on the road ahead, I would be remiss to not also reflect on how far we’ve come. On behalf of the board, staff, and numerous GBC members, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Debra Brown for her unwavering support of our community throughout her tenure as a leader over the years. We appreciate her for not only endorsing the pursuit of a new ED but also walking with the organization long enough to pass such a meaningful baton. Thank you, Debra!
Looking to the future, we are confident that GBC is ready for the next level and Yolanda will guide us in building our membership organization further, with greater resiliency as we scale, so that GBC itself is prosperous, equitable, and sustainable for many years to come.
Please join me in welcoming Yolanda to GBC. Introduce yourself as you see her at events or GBC activities. I am confident Yolanda will want to hear your personal ‘Why’ for being part of GBC. I’m looking forward to seeing her flourish as our new Executive Director and how she will take GBC to new heights.
With gratitude for your commitment to this incredible community,
Katharine Knarreborg
Chair, Good Business Colorado Board of Directors
Yolanda Richard credits much of her professional success to her family and their unwavering resolve to be one of a handful of Haitian migrants in Miami, Florida, to start their own small business- The Richard Family Dry Cleaners. Seeing her migrant father’s bold resolve to start a dry cleaning business out of necessity to sustain her family serves as the moral foundation of Yolanda’s work in the world. Yolanda learned first hand how small businesses can be a life-saving resource for the community because she witnessed her family’s business again and again be so much more than a dry cleaning service but also a sanctuary, a community resource center, a hub for mutual aid, and still stands as a cornerstone for Haitian immigrants and community. In witnessing and contributing to her family’s small business, particularly in a culture and society with such explicit anti-immigrant, anti-black, and anti-poor sentiments, Yolanda sees her calling as deeply rooted in leveraging small business ownership to create sustainable pathways for equitable socio-economic mobility. While Yolanda didn't take over the family business, her passionate belief in the power of small business to create life-transforming pathways for unlikely entrepreneurs remains a driving inspiration of her work as a nonprofit leader. It comes as no surprise that Yolanda's life and professional experience have now led her to become the new Executive Director of Good Business Colorado.
Yolanda is a seasoned non-profit executive leader with over a decade of experience, specializing in guiding organizations through systemic change processes that foster just and inclusive cultures and communities. Yolanda’s leadership also brings a history of profound commitment to driving positive social change through a lens of racial, economic, and climate justice.
Yolanda previously held impactful positions at organizations, including the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), Yale University, Columbia University, and New York Presbyterian Hospital. During her tenure in New York city, Yolanda served as the Director of Membership & Strategic Partnerships at FPWA- one of New York City’s premiere public policy organizations. There, she orchestrated New York City’s largest interfaith campaign for the 2020 census, lauded by the U.S. Census Bureau for its impact on increasing counts in low-income communities of color. Additionally, her leadership in the Roll Up Your Sleeves New York vaccine education campaign during the pandemic garnered support wellover $5 million and reached over two million Black and Brown New Yorkers with culturally relevant health information. Through this initiative, Yolanda also strategically led efforts to garner over 70% voter support for NYC Racial Justice Commission's proposals, marking a significant stride in combating systemic racism. Yolanda’s leadership is marked by a commitment to equity, community building, and the cultivation of people power, which she is excited to bring to her executive leadership with GBC and eager to build powerful relationships across the state.
Yolanda holds a Master of Divinity from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Miami, completing double majors in Political Science and Africana Studies. Additionally, she holds sought-after certifications in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Baruch College, as well as in Non-Profit Accounting and Finance from the BDO-FMA Institute.
Beyond spearheading GBC as the new Executive Director, you can find Yolanda backpacking, camping, and hiking in the beautiful outdoors of Colorado.