Reverend Doctor Yvette R. Blair-Lavallais is a griot, word bearer and preacher of the Gospel. She grew up and was baptized in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. When she was seven, sitting on the pews at Lee Chapel AME Church, she sensed that God was calling her into ministry. Yvette is a licensed pastor and ordained elder in The Methodist Church. She has served in pastoral ministry for almost 15 years in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship at the historic St. Luke “Community United Methodist Church. In 2019, she had the honor of serving for two years as the first woman in the role of senior pastor at First Christian Methodist Church in the Red Bird community of Dallas. 

A public theologian, ecowomanist, and food justice strategist, she earned a Doctor of Ministry from Memphis Theological Seminary in May 2022. Her work focuses on the intersection of food insecurity, public advocacy, gentrification, and the displacement of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous peoples. She is an ambassador with Bread For the World and regularly advocates for Black farmers, access to healthy food, and policy changes that will end hunger. She has advocated on Capitol Hill and has been a featured speaker for World Food Day. 

Dr. Yvette is the recipient of the 2023 Dr. Henry Logan Starks Outstanding African American Alumna Award at Memphis Theological Seminary for her faithful ministry and distinguished service in food policy and food justice. 

She is also the recipient of the 2022 Juanita Craft Humanitarian Award for her visionary leadership in bringing national attention to food insecurity in Texas. 

Dr. Blair-Lavallais is a writer and editor. Her latest book is Scrimpin' and Scrapin': The Hardships and Hustle of Women and Food Insecurity in Texas Through a Theological Lens. The book invites readers into conversation about the root causes of food insecurity and redlining in our foodways through a faith lens. The book debuted in 2022 as the #1 new release on Amazon and as the #4 bestseller. 

An international speaker on food justice issues through a theological framework, Rev. Blair-Lavallais has been a featured panelist for Bread For The World’s Global Advocacy Summit, Conversation with the White House, Pan African Women Ecumenical Empowerment Network, World Council of Churches, and the United Nations Food Systems Summit. 

Rev. Blair-Lavallais holds an Executive Women’s Leadership Certificate from Princeton Theological Seminary where she was also a 2021 Engle Institute of Preaching fellow and a 2017 Black Theology and Leadership Institute fellow. She is also a 2018-2020 fellow of Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative cohort. She earned a Master of Theological Studies and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2013 from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. She also holds a BA in Journalism from the University of North Texas in Denton. 

Rev. Dr. Yvette R. Blair-Lavallais is a native of Dallas, Texas.  She and her husband, the Rev. Carl M. Lavallais, live in Dallas.