Yvonne Louise Durant-Graham was born on June 25, 1954 in Brooklyn and grew up in the Van Dyke Projects.

 She attended PS 150 from K to 2^nd grade. With her mother being very politically active in the community her parents realized that Yvonne was not receiving the same quality of education as the children in Flatbush, Brooklyn, which was predominately White.  So in September of 1962, Yvonne and nine of her school friends were bused to PS 222 in Flatbush.  She will forever remember the picture that still remains very clear in her mind today.  Parents with picket signs saying things like “Go Home”, “We don’t want you here”.  She was the only Black child in her class.

 She later attended Marine Park JHS and graduated from James Madison High School in June of 1972. By this time she had grown accustomed to being in the minority and she had figured out that white kids did just about everything she did and she did just about everything they did.  The only difference – She was Black and they were White. 

 She entered Adelphi University in 1972.  Yvonne had no idea what the racial percentages of Blacks to Whites were when applying to Adelphi.  All she knew was that it was far enough away, to say she was away from home, but close enough to get back in a hurry if she needed to.

 In November of 1975 Yvonne became one of twelve charter members of Kappa Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. which was the first Black sorority on Adelphi’s campus. Upon graduation she held the office of Assistant Graduate Advisor and Graduate Advisor. 

 In 1976 Yvonne graduated from Adelphi with a BA in psychology. Three months after graduation she was hired as a bank teller at GreenPoint Savings Bank where she was promoted to Assistant Auditor in 1977.

 In 1978 she returned to Brownsville to begin working as a substitute teacher with the NYC Board of Education.   In September of 1979 Yvonne was afforded the opportunity of becoming a first grade teacher in PS/IS 41 located in District 23, Brownsville. She accepted the position and resigned from the bank. 

 Yvonne worked for nearly ten years as a full time substitute teacher before she decided to return to school to further her own education. In 1993, she received her master’s degree in education from Hunter College.

 In 1998, she completed her second master’s degree in Supervision and Administration from Bank Street College. In the summer of 1998 she interviewed and became ELA (English Language Arts) Coordinator for District 16.  Here she honed in on demonstrating various techniques and strategies that both her teachers and parents could use to grow children to be proficient in all areas of reading and writing. 

 In September 1999, Yvonne became an Assistant Principal at PS/IS 41- The Walter F. White School where she remained until 2005 when she was offered the position of Principal at PS/IS 298- The Dr. Betty Shabazz School also located in Brownsville. Yvonne’s journey at the Dr. Betty Shabazz School wasn’t always easy. But through perseverance and God’s grace she was able to move her school from a C rating to an A rating within three years. And in 2009 after 30 years of dedicated service to the students, parents and staff of District 23 and 16 Yvonne retired.

 Prior to retirement, Yvonne stepped into the world of entrepreneurship and is currently positioned as a National Director with E.P.I.C. Assets LLC.  However, retirement has not stopped Yvonne from continuing her community service. She has served on the executive board of Imagine Me Leadership Charter School and currently is the recording secretary for St. John’s Seniors Organization and the Vice-Chairperson of the Executive Board of the Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center (BMS). She is an avid tennis fan and loves bowling, to which she has won medals over the years, in both the NY and NJ Empire State Senior Games.

 She is blessed to have one son, Damon Maurice, two grandchildren, Xavier and Journey and most of all the one person who allows her to be herself, who believes in her at times when she doubts herself and for whom she loves unconditionally, her partner of 20 plus years, Carlton Collier.