Sit Stay Read! is thrilled to welcome Ylanda Wilhite as its new Director of Programs and Partnerships in 2026-27. Ylanda brings with her a track record of collaborative program development and growing partnership networks for both large and small nonprofits. Working with Chicago Public Schools teachers and students, as well as with community partners on Chicago’s south and west sides, is a golden thread in Ylanda’s education enrichment story.
Prior to joining SitStayRead, Ylanda led Programs and Internships at the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST). She served for almost a decade within the Field Museum’s Youth and Family Centered Conservation community of practice in the Keller Science Action Center, where she established regional partnerships, managed recruitment, coordinated classroom and internship activities, and developed curriculum and professional development opportunities. Before her time at the Field Museum, Ylanda worked as a Teacher Naturalist at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, focusing on history and science programs.
She received her BA in Anthropology and Spanish from Illinois State University and her Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Not-For-Profit Management from Lewis University.
Outside of SitStayRead, Ylanda is a Scientific Affiliate at the Field Museum who enjoys cleaning dinosaur bones and analyzing flowers.
