Latriece Watkins

Latriece Watkins is Executive Vice President of the Consumables division for Walmart U.S., the nation’s largest retailer. She plays a pivotal role in driving Walmart’s business success and in shaping the future of retailing. As one of Walmart’s largest divisions, she leads a business that, on its own, would be part of the Fortune 50.

Today, a majority of items on every American household shopping list fall in her portfolio. Watkins leads a team that oversees all omni merchandising strategies for the company’s baby, beauty, over-the counter pharmacy, household chemical and paper, personal care and pets business.

Over the course of her career, Watkins has held several key leadership positions in merchandising, human resources and store operations, and began at Walmart focused on the Company’s real estate disposition and development. She was tapped by Walmart’s CEO to lead a team focused on culture change and transformation across the enterprise. Because she has worked in so many different areas of the business, she brings a 360-degree approach to her leadership, all while keeping customers at the center of Walmart’s business.

Watkins has also championed a number of mentorship and diversity and inclusion initiatives at Walmart, including serving as chairperson for the African American Resource Groups for two terms. Currently, she leads the company’s criminal justice Shared Value Network team, which focuses on leveraging the company’s strengths and expertise to increase racial equity within the system. Watkins is admired across the industry as someone who leads with respect and lifts others. She champions DEI programs that create sustained, consistent and significant impact, both within her company and her community.

She is widely celebrated and recognized throughout the industry as a trailblazer, forging her own unique path to leadership and success. In 2020, Fortune included Watkins on a list of women most likely to land a spot on the Most Powerful Women list. In May 2021, she was awarded the Madam C.J. Walker Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, an award that recognizes individuals who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to DEI. She was also named to Mass Market Retailers Most Influential Women in Retail.

Active in the community, Watkins currently serves as a board member for Thaden School, an independent school in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas that aims to provide holistic, enriching education to prepare students for college. She’s also a board member for Mercy Health Foundation of Northwest Arkansas. Latriece works with a variety of local and regional chapters of non-profit organizations, including the American Heart Association; Susan G. Komen Foundation; Big Brothers, Big Sisters; Boys and Girls Club and Winthrop Rockefeller Institute.

Watkins graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in political science and received a JD at the University of Arkansas law school.