Yolande Spears is  & Community Relations at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Connecticut’s premiere performance venue for Broadway theatre, music, dance, children's theatre, and special events. As Vice President of Education, she co-created the Bushnell’s award winning PARTNERS program. The program, which provides arts opportunities for students of all ages, is the recipient of numerous awards, among them a prestigious Dawson Award. The PARTNERS  program has also received recognition for its outstanding work from The National Endowment for the Arts, the US Department of Education, the Connecticut Quality Innovative Award, and the Connecticut Department of Education. 

Additionally, PARTNERS was one of several organizations profiled in the Dana Foundation’s 2003 publication, Acts of Achievement.  In her role as Vice President of Community Relations, Yolande has developed numerous family literacy and enrichment programs. In recognition of this work, The Broadway League selected her to co-create Family First Nights, a national initiative designed to make Broadway programming accessible and affordable for underserved families in the Greater Hartford area. Along with her administrative leadership, Yolande has been a guest speaker at organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and in China. She’s appeared at the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Association of Musical Theater, The Broadway League, the American Association of University Women, Harvard’s Graduate School/Arts Education, the US Dept. of Education at Hoffstra University, Toronto Conservatory of Music, Novelists Inc.’s Vancouver Conference, the Veteran Feminists of America, the Yale Goldman Sachs/National Business Plan Competition, the New England Conference for Gifted and Talented, and the Shanghai International Arts Festival, to mention a few.In August 2005, Plays for Living commissioned her to write two short plays for a corporate client.  Subsequently, her short story, “Buttered Biscuits” was published in the bestselling motivational series, Wake Up & Live the Life You Love. Yolande’s new book, The Gift, will be published in the fall of 2011.