North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board
Term ends: June 30, 2027
Please give a brief biography, including your education, licensure or certification level and employment history:
I am the founder and principal consultant of Yolanda Nichole Solutions, a management consulting firm that helps mission-driven small businesses and nonprofits transform how they plan, operate, and grow. Across over 20 years in management consulting, business strategy, cybersecurity, and operations, my work has spanned sectors in F100, small business, and nonprofit where I’ve combined analytical thinking with empathy to help leadership teams align around mission and performance.
I hold a Master of Business Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with executive education from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Leadership North Carolina, and Scouting America.
As a public member, I bring an outside, public-protection lens, with grounding in fiduciary governance and a genuine commitment to the people licensing exists to protect.
Give a synopsis of your regulatory and professional experience. Please emphasize your involvement with ASWB:
I am a Public Member of the North Carolina Social Work Certification & Licensure Board, where I serve as Secretary/Treasurer, and member of the Executive, Finance, and Technology Committees. This experience has taught me how regulatory decisions land on two constituencies at once: the public we protect, and the practitioners whose livelihoods depend on our objectivity and predictability with the backdrop of systemic challenges regulators navigate.
In 2025, I completed ASWB’s New Member Training in Savannah, attended the BMX and Education Meeting, and represented North Carolina as a delegate at Delegate Assembly. In 2026, I was appointed to the Regulatory Education and Leadership (REAL) Committee to plan the 2027 Education Meeting in Montreal Canada, and attended Education Meeting and Leadership Weekend.
Beyond these experiences, I bring over a decade of board governance and leadership. Currently, I serve as Board Chair of Empowered Parents in Community, and Board Treasurer of Urban Ministries of Durham, where I’m also on the executive director search committee and am a former Board Chair.
Finally, make a brief statement on the major issues you see facing ASWB, and how you would address them:
I wonder what happens to ASWB’s model as more jurisdictions create alternative pathways or reduce reliance on the ASWB exam in order to address real workforce shortages. However, I know a lack of competent practitioners is a threat to public safety. I would address these issues by championing quicker deployment and greater adoption of the Social Work Interstate Compact to help address workforce shortages without compromising public safety.
Additionally, I would encourage greater collaboration in support of strengthened exam preparation for people who have difficulty passing the exam. Options include exploring bulk university licensing for the online practice exam (to subsidize the cost for alumni), or in the spirit of ASWB’s DEIJ mandate, equipping jurisdictional boards with strategies to subsidize test prep for those 2nd or 3rd+ time non-passing exam takers as well as offering greater support and accountability for supervisors to ensure supervisees have experiences that prepare them for competent practice. Any strategy I rally behind to address the issues ASWB faces must align with ASWB’s identity and my fiduciary duties as a board director.