Yolanda Trotman is originally from High Point, North Carolina and graduated from UNC-Charlotte in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and she was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow. In 1999 she attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated in May 2002 with her Juris Doctor degree. Yolanda began her career as an Assistant Public Defender in October 2002 and in 2005 she opened her own law practice, the Law Office of Yolanda M. Trotman, PLLC. She was elected as a District Court Judge on November 2014 where she ultimately founded, iSpeak Now, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that teaches public speaking, critical thinking and related skills to students by utilizing the Mock Trial Experience and other models. She left the bench in December 2016 and returned to the private sector to practice law and to pursue to development and expansion of iSpeak Now. Yolanda remains active in the community and has received numerous awards for her service to the community.





