Carmen Watkins

Carmen Watkins leads the NAACP's field operations department as Senior Vice President of Membership Growth and Unit Sustainability. She previously served as the NAACP's Interim Vice President and regional director for the West and Southwest.

As an advocate and champion for social change, Ms. Watkins continues to develop and nurture innovative programming and civil rights advocacy campaigns that meet the needs of the community. Beyond her NAACP service, Ms. Watkins has also worked as an adjunct professor at Lone Star College, president and CEO for the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, senior vice president for the Houston Area Urban League, Southwest regional director for the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and corporate development director for INROADS/Houston. She worked on several local campaigns and served as staff to Congressmen George "Mickey" Leland and Mike Andrews.

Ms. Watkins also has a significant media background. She has served as a host for Majic 102.1FM (#1 rated), the news and public affairs director for Sunday Morning Live, a local news announcer for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, a news announcer for KNWS Channel 51 Houston, and as a host on several talk radio programs.

With a career that began at the age of 18, Ms. Watkins was the youngest member to serve on the Democratic National Convention Credentials Committee. She has been honored with the Houston Bar Association's Matthew W. Plummer Sr. Justice Award, the YMCA's Young Minority Achievers Award, and the Honey Hope Women in Leadership Award. She was named to Who's Who in Black Houston and selected as one of Houston's Top 25 Most Influential Women.

Ms. Watkins past and present service work has included a number of community and civil rights organizations, including United Way Allocations Committee, the National Gathering for Social Enterprise, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Houston Coalition for Black Civic Participation (coordinator), Houston Hip Hop Summit (voter coordinator), Unity '04-2006 (Texas coordinator), Texas Coalition on Black Civic Participation (coordinator), HISD Technology Advisory Committee, Houston Youth Build Advisory Committee, National Urban League Health Advisory Committee, Black Women's Roundtable, Houston Human Resource Management Association, American Society of Training and Development, Board Member-American Leadership Forum, and Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Ms. Watkins holds a B.A. in economics from Oberlin College, a J.D. from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and an M.S. in Community Development from the School of Architecture at Prairie View University. She has also attended the Rice University Center for Managers and the Texaco and Disney Management Institute.