Our February Member of the Month is  Yolantrice Collins, Deputy Director for the Justice for Greenwood Foundation. As Deputy Director, Yolantrice is responsible for the day-to-day operations and partnerships for the non-profit. You can see the passion Yolantrice has in her work and her mission every day, and it is truly inspiring!

The Justice for Greenwood Foundation aims to revitalize the Greenwood Community and Diaspora through education, advocacy and direct services to lift the community out of poverty and to address the major areas of inequality and injustice directly caused by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre such as: Health, Education, Real Estate, and Generational Wealth. 

If you’d like to learn more about the 1921 Race Massacre or donate to their cause, check out their website: justiceforgreenwood.org/.  

What do you do? Tell us a little bit about your company.

I am the Deputy Director for the Justice For Greenwood Foundation. I oversee Operations and Partnerships. Justice For Greenwood Foundation, Inc. is a grassroots, 501(c)(3) social justice organization. We are a network of volunteers, advocates, academics, experts, Massacre Survivors, Descendants & others agitating for reparations and justice on behalf of the Massacre Survivors and Descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.  Through innovative legal strategies, public education, and advocacy, we are working to mitigate the effects of the Massacre and its 100 years of continuing harm. 

What is the best part of your job?  

Our entire team!!! Absolutely amazing people.

What could you give a 30-minute presentation about with no advance preparation?  

How to set up a Donor Management System – the presentation may be an hour. 🙂 lol

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

A lawyer – one of my electives in middle school was constitutional law – my teacher was always impressed with my writing and “arguments” and told me I’d be a great lawyer.  Then he signed me up for “mock trial.”  I was a judge once and an attorney another session – I just knew I was destined for law school.  And I thought briefcases were a great fashion piece 🙂

What do you do to get rid of stress?  

I spend time with my Godsons – 2yrs, 3yrs, and 5 yrs old. We play games inside & outside, watch cartoons and eat whatever we want.

Given unlimited resources, how would you go about making the world a better place? 

I’d pay for everyone’s education, no matter what route they chose. And.. I’d have a global movement that went around helping people know that they matter; they are significant – their life matters; we (the world) need who you are. There’s a book by Toure Roberts called Purpose Awakening – Discover The Epic Idea that Motivated Your Birth” – I believe this – our lives are intentional.  There is meaning, significance in our being.  

Would you survive a zombie apocalypse? How?  

Yes, I like being home. No one would ever see me. 

What is one of your favorite things about being a member of The Root Coworking?  

The atmosphere and the people (sorry can’t pick one).