WSG Welcomes Two New Board Members
The Washington School for Girls is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to its Board of Trustees, Lynette Espy-Williams and Yolanda Long, Class of 2004. Long is the first alumna in WSG’s history to serve as a trustee.
Lynette Espy-Williams is a Shareholder and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Cozen O’Connor. A graduate of Spelman College and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Espy-Williams’ impressive legal career began with a judicial internship for the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Chief Justice. She then joined Cozen O’Connor’s Atlanta, GA office, where she quickly established herself as a leader and earned committee chairships within the firm, all while also volunteering in leadership roles for community-based organizations and professional associations.
In 2018, Espy-Williams was appointed as the firm’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and relocated to Washington. Since then, she has also been selected to join the Management Committee and Board of Directors of Cozen O’Connor. In addition to her new position on WSG’s Board of Trustees, she also serves the Corporate Counsel Women of Color (Advisory Board member), St. Matthews Early Education Center (Board of Directors), and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (Board of Visitors).
Yolanda Long is a Project Attorney at the National Juvenile Defender Center. She graduated from what was then known as the Washington Middle School for Girls in 2004, which was the fourth 8th grade class in the school’s history. After WSG she went on to attend Benjamin Banneker Academic High School and Hampton University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a mathematics degree in 2013. During her time at Hampton, she participated in numerous campus organizations including the Student Christian Association, Golden Key International Honour Society, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and served as a tutor to her fellow students through the Student Support Services program.
After graduation, Long participated in the Teach for America program at Paul Public Charter School where she served as a Math teacher. She then attended Howard University School of Law, earning her JD in 2019, and began her career as a juvenile defender. Over the years Long has remained involved in the WSG community, returning to speak to 5th grade students and families while she was a college student in 2011, and serving as the keynote speaker at WSG’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in 2017.
The Washington School for Girls is an independent Catholic school governed by a Board of Trustees, who are responsible for financial oversight, governance, fundraising, and strategic visioning for the school. Board members are committed volunteers who bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to the leadership of the organization.