Yolanda Hill Robinson

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Yolanda Hill Robinson
Second Lady of North Carolina
Current
Assumed role
January 9, 2021
GovernorRoy Cooper
Preceded byAlice Forest
Personal details
Born
Yolanda Hill

Ramseur, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 1990)​
Children2
EducationUniversity of North Carolina, Greensboro (BS, MS)

Yolanda Hill Robinson is an American accountant, non-profit executive, and civic leader. As the wife of Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, she has served as the Second Lady of North Carolina since 2021 and is the first African-American woman to serve as Second Lady of North Carolina. Robinson founded and operates a non-profit organization that provides meals to children in daycare facilities. She sits on the board of American Leadership Academy North Carolina and on the boards of two of its affiliated charter schools.

Early life and education[edit]

Robinson was born Yolanda Hill in Ramseur, North Carolina.[1] She grew up in Randolph County and graduated from Eastern Randolph High School in 1986. She earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.[1]

Career and public life[edit]

In 1990, Robinson co-managed a childcare facility with her husband.[2] She later founded a non-profit organization that provides healthy meals for children enrolled in licensed daycare facilities in North Carolina, which she owns and operates.[1]

She is a board member of Revolution Academy, a K-8 charter school in Oak Ridge, North Carolina.[3] She also sits on the board of American Leadership Academy North Carolina and two of its affiliated charter schools, American Leadership Academy in Garner and American Leadership Academy in Monroe.[4] She joined the American Leadership Academy boards in the spring of 2022.[4]

Second Lady of North Carolina[edit]

In 2020, Robinson's husband was elected as the first African-American Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. When he assumed office in 2021, she became the state's first African-American Second Lady.[5]

In May 2021, Robinson spoke at an event hosted by the Wayne County Republican Women.[1] On July 11, 2021, Robinson and her husband attended a patriotic worship service called "God and Country Day" at the Lake Church in White Lake, North Carolina.[6]

Robinson received a resolution of appreciation from the Davidson County Republican Party Executive Committee for being a "positive role model for young ladies" while attending a Republican event in the county with her husband in 2023.[7]

In 2023, Robinson's husband announced his candidacy for Governor of North Carolina.[8] If he wins the election, Robinson and her husband would be North Carolina's first African-American governor and first lady.[9]

Controversies[edit]

In 2022, a news story was published revealing that Robinson, who expresses anti-abortion political views, obtained an abortion in 1989.[10] The abortion that was paid for by her future husband, Mark Robinson, while they were dating.[11][12] The Robinsons stated that the decision to have an abortion "has been with us ever since" and is the reason they now have a staunch anti-abortion stance.[13][14] In 2022, she and her husband appeared in a video to address the abortion after it had been reported on in the news.[15] The video was posted to her husband's official Facebook page.[16][17] She did not speak in the video, but sat next to her husband while he spoke about the abortion.[10] The Robinsons were criticized by members of the North Carolina Democratic Party and by reproductive rights activists for supporting bans on abortions after obtaining one themselves.[18]

The North Carolina Board of Education voted twice not to approve the charter of the American Leadership Academy in Monroe, of which Robinson is a board member.[4] Following an investigation by WBTV, it was revealed that Lieutenant Governor Robinson did not disclose his wife's role, as required by law, in his 2023 ethics filing despite recusing himself from voting in the North Carolina General Assembly's proposed legislation to implement a new Charter School Review Board on which he would sit.[4] Robinson's husband, as Lieutenant Governor, was presiding over the North Carolina State Senate when the proposal passed, and was appointed to the review board.[4]

Personal life[edit]

She married Mark Robinson on May 5, 1990, in a private ceremony.[19][20] They have one daughter and one son.[13] The couple lives in High Point.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "The Wayne County Republican Women Host Yolanda Robinson". Wayne County Republican Party.
  2. ^ "Book excerpt: Mark Robinson's tumultuous path". August 18, 2022.
  3. ^ "Our Board – Revolution Academy".
  4. ^ a b c d e Ochsner, Nick (October 4, 2023). "NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson vows to correct 'mistake' on ethics filing". www.wbtv.com.
  5. ^ "North Carolina's first Black lieutenant governor-elect Mark Robinson hopes to inspire others with personal story". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. November 10, 2020.
  6. ^ "God and Country Day at Lake Church with Lt. Governor Mark Robinson - 'Now Is Not The Time To Be Silent' -". July 12, 2021.
  7. ^ "Lt. Governor rallies Republicans in Davidson County". DavidsonLocal.com. August 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Clifton, Brant (May 25, 2023). "A (Robinson) Family Affair". The Daily Haymaker.
  9. ^ "Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson officially begins campaign for governor". WUNC. April 23, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Schofield, Rob (March 29, 2022). "What's really "wrong" when it comes to Mark Robinson and abortion".
  11. ^ "The enigma of Mark Robinson: How NC's outspoken lieutenant governor is climbing the GOP ladder". WRAL.com. September 18, 2022.
  12. ^ "'It was wrong': North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he paid for abortion in 1989". WRAL.com. March 23, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he and his wife made mistake not to go through with pregnancy before". WRAL.com. March 24, 2022.
  14. ^ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article259721180.html
  15. ^ "NC lieutenant gov explains abortion decision decades ago". AP News. March 24, 2022.
  16. ^ Team, WITN Web (March 24, 2022). "Lt. governor says he paid for wife's abortion before they were married". www.witn.com.
  17. ^ "NC Lt. Gov. Robinson says he's 'not interested' in abortion debate as GOP passes 12-week ban". WFAE 90.7 - Charlotte's NPR News Source. May 4, 2023.
  18. ^ "Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson under fire for 'pro-life' views years after wife had abortion". March 25, 2022.
  19. ^ "Mark Robinson Kids With His Wife Yolanda Hill: Family". April 25, 2023.
  20. ^ "Robinson marries Hill in 1990". WRAL.com. September 17, 2022.
  21. ^ Tudi, Godsway Charles (April 25, 2023). "Meet Mark Robinson Wife, Yolanda Hill And Kids". GhBase•com™-Everything & News Now.
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