Shanita Perdomo
Shanita Perdomo is a nonprofit leader, author, partnership strategist, and community advocate dedicated to empowering young women through mentorship, career readiness, and transformational programming. As the Executive Director and founder of Yes, M.I.S.S. Inc.
, Shanita has spent the past five years building a mission-driven organization that prepares young women for higher education, professional success, and personal growth through networking events, workshops, mentorship opportunities, company tours, and mock interview experiences. Her leadership style is rooted in authenticity, collaboration, and community impact, and she is widely recognized for her ability to connect professionals, organizations, and young people in ways that create lasting change. In addition to her nonprofit work, Shanita currently serves as Partner Experience Manager at The Community Impact Fund
, where she continues to strengthen cross-sector partnerships that support communities and social impact initiatives.
A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley
with a degree in Social Welfare, Shanita began her career in New York City working as a therapeutic interventionist supporting families reunited after foster care placements. Drawing from her own lived experiences in foster care and growing up in Oakland, California, she developed a deep passion for youth advocacy, family support, and community empowerment. Over the years, her work expanded into youth development, transitional support for young adults in foster care, and leadership roles serving women experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shanita recognized how the lack of professional networks and career exposure disproportionately impacted underserved women and girls, inspiring her to launch Yes, M.I.S.S. Inc. to bridge those gaps and create access to opportunity, mentorship, and long-term success.
Beyond her nonprofit leadership, Shanita is also a published author, life coach, and licensed New Jersey Realtor focused on helping families build generational wealth and housing stability. Her memoir, Oakland Girl, became a #1 Amazon bestseller in the women and girls memoir category and has allowed her to connect with young people across the country through storytelling, speaking engagements, and mentorship. Shanita’s work and leadership have earned her numerous recognitions, including the Rooted in Black Excellence Award and support from the Barrett & Kohler Foundation for grassroots BIPOC leaders. Whether she is mentoring students, organizing career-readiness programs, advocating for young women, or building partnerships across industries, Shanita remains committed to creating spaces where young people feel seen, supported, and empowered to thrive.
• Youth Development Certification
• Life Coach
• Licensed Realtor
• University of California, Berkeley- B.A.
• Rooted in Black Excellence Award from International Girls Academy
• Barrett and Kohler Foundation Award
• Amazon #1 Bestseller in Women and Girls Memoir Category
• Realtor Organization
• American Red Cross
• The Summit Church of Bergen Co.
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a lot of prayer and having real conversations with myself, believing that I'm capable of more and not limiting myself. Before I started Yes Miss Inc., I was working at a nonprofit where I saw women who had been there for 25, 40 years, and I realized I didn't want that for myself. I was afraid my creativity and ambition would die there. So I had to do a lot of soul-searching and prayer, and through that, I got the courage to put myself out there even though I didn't know what I was doing. I researched how to start a nonprofit, learned the lingo, put together the formation documents myself. When my lawyer reviewed the paperwork, he said 'who did this for you?' and I said 'I did it.' He was amazed that I had done all his work. I just attribute it to believing in myself and making sure that whatever I do helps me get to where I'm trying to go. I'm at a place now where I need to know my limits and make sure everything I do doesn't take me away from reaching another goal, like paying off credit cards so I can buy a house for my children.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received was for my real estate business, but I apply it to everything: know my why. Just know why I'm doing it. When I have hard days with the nonprofit and I'm trying to build it up to be more financially stable, and I don't want to have to work a full-time job plus do real estate plus still build the nonprofit, I have my days when I ask myself why am I doing this? It's taking up a lot of time and energy. And I look at my sons, I have two sons, and I just want to spend more time with them. I want them to be proud of me. I want them to see what their mommy does and go, you know what, my mommy works really hard and she does really great work and great things for other people, and I hope that would inspire them to do something very similar.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say manage your CRM, your customer relations. Make sure that you keep track of everyone's information, because in this industry, you become a connector. And the more people that you connect to and connect others to, people begin to really trust your value. I think any industry is one of trust, but especially where people are putting themselves out there and they want to help. So just make sure that you keep up with the people who have helped you along the way, keep them involved and engaged, and help them to be bigger connectors.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in the nonprofit and youth development space is building long-term financial stability while scaling programs that truly meet the needs of young people, especially in areas like career readiness, professional networking, and affordable housing access. At the same time, there are incredible opportunities to expand community impact by growing partnerships beyond New Jersey, cultivating more corporate volunteers and mentors, and using storytelling, public speaking, and authentic relationships to connect young people with life-changing opportunities.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
First, the value of faith. I'm a very faith-driven person, and I'm a Christian. It has really changed everything about my life and has given me hope for my future. Knowing that I'm loved by God, and I strive to let others know the same. Another thing that is important for me is just to be a strong advocate for yourself. I share this a lot with the young women I work with. It's very easy to bring the way that you were raised into how you show up as an adult in a workspace or in college. So be mindful of that now, and if you ever feel like, man, I know that's wrong, then start practicing or learning how to speak up for yourself without feeling like you're coming out of your character. Your character and how you want others to perceive you versus what you know, other people mischaracterizing you, those are two separate things. I've been silenced for many years, and at this point in my life, I just don't tolerate disrespect. I'm gonna call it out, and not feel like being disrespected is attached to having to survive, because that's slavery at that point.