Profile
Dr. Yolanda Méndez graduated from Rutgers College, Rutgers University Graduate School, and Seton Hall University Graduate School. Dr. Méndez possesses a BA, two EDMs, an EdS, and an EdD. She is currently the Assistant Superintendent for the Office of Human Resource Services for the Newark Board of Education. In that capacity, she leads seven departments; the Office of Employee Services, Labor & Employee Relations; Staffing and Recruitment; Affirmative Action and Risk Management.
While at the Newark Public Schools, Dr. Méndez has served as an Assistant Superintendent supervising 15 schools, as a Principal for ten years, and as a Special Assistant to the Regional Superintendent of all the high schools. Before that, Dr. Méndez began her educational administrative career as a Director of Instructional Technology and Curriculum in 1997 in Dover, NJ.
Dr. Méndez was a Seton Hall University National Fellow in the Doctoral Program and has received recognition from the Cahn Fellowship Program at Columbia University as a Distinguished Principal of 2011-2012 and El Diario La Prensa honored her as one of 2012's Distinguished Hispanic Women in the Metropolitan area. Most recently, Dr. Méndez has been participating as one of 25 Fellows in The School Superintendent's Association (AASA), Aspiring Superintendents Academy® for Latino and Latina Leaders 2022 National Fellow Cohort.
Throughout her career, Dr. Méndez has presented at various conferences and community forums on education, equity, and leadership and has been recognized as a leader in these areas. Dr. Méndez serves as an Adjunct at Montclair University's Graduate School of Education and she has served and led on several boards of grassroots organizations. Her passions are engrained in the belief that an individual's demographics, home environment, and that socio-economic situation does not and should not predict their destiny.
Sessions