Pastor::Public Theologian::Food Justice Scholar::Writer.

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Some people call me Pastor. Most people call me “Y.” I love telling people about the origin of my name.  My parents named me “Y”vette and made a declaration that the “Y” is not silent. They believed that God was calling me to be a prophetic voice. Now that’s a prophetic word, because as a pastor, public theologian, and food justice scholar and activist, I am not quiet when it comes to calling out the injustices, amplifying my voice - and taking my faith publicly.
My life’s work is about helping people move from brokenness to wholeness. I left a lucrative position as a regional vice president of marketing and communications in the non-profit world to answer my calling into ordained ministry.

I am the 2024-25 Equity Research Fellow with Feeding America, one of the largest hunger-relief organizations in the United States. I am a licensed pastor and ordained elder in the rich tradition of The Black Methodist Church. I have served in pastoral ministry for more than 15 years in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including the honor of having served as the first woman in the role of senior pastor at First Christian Methodist Church in the Red Bird area of Dallas.  I have served in pastoral leadership at the historic St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church, The Woods UMC and 

Greater Garth Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

I hold a certificate in Executive Leadership from Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey for completing the two-year Women in Ministry Iron Sharpening Iron cohort in 2023.

Sometimes I am referred to as Dr. Blair-Lavallais. In that calling, I am an advisor and adjunct professor at Memphis Theological Seminary where I teach courses in the Land, Food and Faith Doctor of Ministry program. I also serve as the Cohort Mentor for students in this DMIN program. 

A womanist public theologian and food justice strategist, I earned a Doctor of Ministry from Memphis Theological Seminary in May 2022. My work focuses on the intersection of food insecurity, famines, displacement, and gentrification of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous peoples. My highly celebrated doctoral research project is “Reframing the Narrative of Food Insecurity: Creating a Faith-Based Policy that Addresses Food Apartheid in the Red Bird Community of Dallas.” It has been used as a case study and blueprint for communities and organizations seeking to dismantle food insecurity through a faith and advocacy lens.

In 2022, I released Scrimpin' and Scrapin': The Hardships and Hustle of Women and Food Insecurity in Texas Through a Womanist Lens. Published by Arpege Circle Books, it is an extension of my doctoral research. The book invites readers into the conversation about the root causes of food insecurity through a faith lens. 

It debuted as the #1 new release on Amazon and as the #4 bestseller. 

Some of the honors that I am especially proud of are these: being the recipient of the 2023 Dr. Henry Logan Starks Outstanding African American Alumna Award at Memphis Theological Seminary for my faithful ministry and distinguished service. The award is named for Starks, who was a professor at MTS, and a community and civil rights leader. Recipients are recognized for contributing to their communities in ways that are consistent with the Starks legacy. 

I am deeply honored at being the recipient of the 2022 Juanita Craft Humanitarian Award for my visionary leadership in bringing national attention to food insecurity in Texas. The award is presented by The State Fair of Texas in conjunction with the Juanita Craft Museum. Craft was a civil rights leader, and field organizer with the NAACP, and in 1944 she became the first Black woman in Dallas County to vote in the Democratic Party primary. The award honors recipients who embody Craft's spirit of service and commitment to bettering the community. 

An international speaker on food justice issues through a theological framework, I have been a featured panelist for Bread For The World’s Global Advocacy Summit, Conversation with the White House and I have presented my work on the systemic injustices of food insecurity at conferences including the Political Theology Network conference at Union Theological Seminary in New York, Rural Women’s Studies Kitchen Table Talk to Global Forum at the University of Guelph in Canada, and the Leadership Academy at Vanderbilt Divinity School. My work has also been included in the UN Food Summit and Pan African Women of Faith Ecumenical Empowerment Network.

This Oak Cliff native is a proud 2022 inaugural cohort fellow of the Texas Folklife Program's Community Folklife Fellowship where I focused on cultural traditions in our foodways. An award-winning writer, I am also proud to be a Public Voices Fellow of The Op Ed Project, a 2021 Engle Institute of Preaching fellow and a 2017 Black Theology and Leadership Institute fellow of Princeton Theological Seminary. I am also a 2018-2020 fellow of Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative cohort. I earned a Master of Theological Studies and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2013 from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. I earned a BA in Journalism from the University of North Texas in Denton. 

In 2018, I was named Person of the Year by Texas Metro News for shattering the silence on clergywomen abuse. I am featured in the award-winning film, Shattering the Silence - Documentary, produced by WOW Films. 

I live in Dallas with my husband, the Rev. Carl M. Lavallais.