Yvonne Presha

Ms. Yvonne Carroll Presha, affectionately known as Eve, Evie and Grandma Evie, passed away on June 3, 2025, in New York, New York. She was born on November 9, 1940, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Yvonne was a dynamic leader, educator, and visionary with over 20 years of experience in nonprofit development, arts and culture, and philanthropy. As an executive and independent consultant, she specialized in fundraising strategy, major donor campaigns, capital initiatives, and institutional stabilization for some of the most respected arts and cultural organizations in the country.

Her extensive client list included the Nathan Cummings Foundation, The New York Community Trust, 651 ARTS, the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Women in Need, Downstate New York Healthy Start, the United Way of Palm Beach County, the Ford Foundation's Working Capital Fund, and the National Black Programming Consortium.

Yvonne served as an adjunct professor at The New School's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy beginning in 1993, and she was co-author of the New York Foundation for the Arts' landmark report, "Cultural Diversity at the Board Level of U.S. Cultural Institutions." She was a trusted advisor to the Ford Foundation's Art Stabilization Initiative and worked closely with Brody and Weiser, a national consulting firm based in Branford, Connecticut, as a member of their documentation team for the Working Capital Fund.

Previously, from 1980 to 1993, Yvonne held senior leadership positions with the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, first as the Director of Development and then as the Vice President of Planning and Development. From 1993 to 1996, she was the Director of Development at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Yvonne held a Bachelor's degree in Education from SUNY Oswego, a Master's degree from New York University, and a Professional Certificate in the Financial Development of Nonprofit Organizations from Adelphi University.

Yvonne was a proud and active member of the Ladybugs, and the Brooklyn Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. She was also a member of a book club that met regularly. As a member of the Links, Yvonne was instrumental in launching the Women of African Descent Film Festival, a program that celebrated and elevated Black women's voices through film. Yvonne was also active with the 284 Connection, a group that consisted of the descendants of the Bourne and Carroll family. all of whom trace their origin to 284 Clifton Pl in Brooklyn.

Yvonne leaves behind her son, Miles Presha and his wife, Heather, and their two sons, Steve and Vince; her brother, James Carroll, his wife, Celia and their son Jamaal; her first cousins, Hugh, John, Michele and Roger and their spouses, Eneida, Lois, Michael and Alice, respectively; her other relatives from the 284 Connection; her friends from the Book Club, the Lady Bugs and the Links and many other friends and relatives.