Yvonne Hughes is a dynamic educational leader and certified addiction counselor. She received her bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University in Professional Studies with a focus on Organizational Instruction. Over the last 30 years, Yvonne has extended her professional and leadership skills by becoming a mental health counselor focused on addiction. Her professional experiences include working in higher education at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, MO, as a Case Manager at Family Support Services in Indianapolis, IN, and more recently as a Mental Health Support Specialist at Eskenazi Health Hospital in Indianapolis, IN, the mental health recovery unit. During the summer of 2022, she decided to move back to St. Louis, MO. She accepted a position at Washington University School of Medicine in the Department of Neurology in the Balls-Berry Lab as a Clinical Research Coordinator. This new role provides Yvonne the opportunity to use her skills in counseling to help address issues related to health disparities in persons of color.