American Association for the Advancement of Science

Yolanda L. Comedy is the Director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Center for Advancing Science & Engineering Capacity and independent consultant working on science and technology (S&T) issues including S&T policy; cybersecurity; space commercialization; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and diversity; and business strategy. For more than fifteen years she has worked in both the public and private sectors on critical public policy issues, primarily in science and technology policy.

Comedy obtained her Ph.D. from Indiana University in Political Science and Public Policy. She came to the DC area as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow and spent two years leading efforts on global democracy issues for the United States Agency for International Development. Comedy worked for the White House, serving as a Senior Policy Analyst for both the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee.

She then moved to IBM and was integral to the creation and implementation of initiatives in philanthropy, governmental programs and consulting on issues ranging from education reform, to the impact of advancements in semiconductors and supercomputers, to innovation, and the effect of a global pandemic on business.

Comedy has served as a lobbyist, had extensive contact with several Administrations and Congress and has been actively involved with leading associations. She has recently served as chair of the AAAS Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPP), and the Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network’s (WEPAN) Knowledge Center.