Yvette Noble Harris, C-beyond Founder

WilliamOver 25 years experience working in a non-profit environment.  My career began in 1985 as a bookkeeper and administrative assistant to the Executive Director of house of Umoja in Philadelphia. This intercity boy's home is where I was introduced to all facets of what started as a grass root non-profit organization and grew into a powerful organization that would last for decades. Filling in for the cook, counselors, teachers and janitors if necessary while working my way to become their Chief Fiscal Officer and serving on the Board of Directors.  Accepting a position as an accountant in Washington, DC for a multimillion dollar non-profit organization named S.O.M.E. (So Other Might Eat) I served in their accounting department for over 7 years. While there I built and led productive teams. Hiring, supervising, and training employees in grants management and accounting systems and procedures. I worked in their clothing room, and served meals in their soup kitchen. While there I had the honor of serving a Thanksgiving meal to the homeless with the then President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hilary Clinton. While working for S.O.M.E. I attended Columbia Union College and received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration graduating Magna Cum Laude. In 2001 I moved to Lithonia, Georgia to join my daughter & son in-law.  Utilizing my accounting skills and my desire to serve the homeless I went to work for the Task Force for the Homeless and then went on to become Vice President of Finance for the American Lung Association Southeast Region which also served homeless tuberculoses patients. During all of these work experiences and in my own personal life I developed a profound need to help homeless, displaced and jobless women and their children. Knowing that if it had not been for a woman such as Sister Falaka Fattah of the House of Umoja who saw potential in me that I could not see in myself; this career may not have happened.  She taught me that a good non-profit can not only help its clients but can change the course of many lives.  Through my personal and family life I have been exposed to many powerful and positive women who have supported, encouraged, and taught me to see beyond my present circumstances. I am now putting this philosophy to work and seeing myself passing on the same support, encouragement and teaching to help as many other women as I can to C-Beyond their present circumstance.