Sandy Yates

Experience

Biography

Sandra “Sandy” Yates is a fundraising professional whose experience has primarily come through higher education. Currently she leads Institutional Advancement operations at Johnson C. Smith University. Prior to joining the Smith Family, Yates held similar roles at Spelman College, Morehouse College and Fayetteville State University. During her thirty-year fundraising experience, she has closed gifts as large as six million dollars and played key roles in multiple capital campaigns that raised as much as five hundred million dollars. She earned the CFRE Certified Fundraising Executive Credential more than twenty years ago.

Yates has presented at the CASE Conference on Donor Relations. She has received honors and recognition from Talladega College for service to academic departments; Ft. Sill Army Base for exemplary performance to the Department of Logistics; Dover Air Force Base, for commitment to the community; and the Dover Chapter of the NAACP for long-term dedication. She has also served as a Diversity Mentor for the Atlanta Chapter of the AFP. Yates is a founding member of F3 “Fabulous Female Fundraisers, and is currently a member of CASE District III Cabinet.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Wesley College in Dover Delaware and is enrolled in her final semester of MBA at Fayetteville State University. She is a proud veteran of the United States Air Force.

Yates, who is an ordained reverend in the AME Church and is married to the Rev. James A. Platt. They are the proud parents, in-laws, and grandparents of 6 sons, 4 daughter in-loves, and seven grandchildren. In her spare time, she reads, sews and designs clothing and grows vegetables.