RAYMOND TWO HAWKS WATSON

 

RAYMOND TWO HAWKS WATSON is a community advocate, educator, cultural practitioner,  convener, and business professional with sixteen years of experience in nonprofit leadership and  executive administration. Watson’s skills consist of program development & implementation,  grant writing, motivational speaking, leadership & cultural development consulting, community  organizing, and event planning, supplemented by an extensive background in promoting and  supporting cultural equity & cultural development initiatives in the Rhode Island community.  

Watson has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Union College in New York, a master’s degree in community planning from the University of Rhode Island, and a juris doctorate from the Roger Williams University School of Law. Watson was consulting co-lead for development  of the City of Providence’s Municipal Reparations Reconciliation Framework and is the recipient  of the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2016 Carter Innovation Fellowship, a 2021 recipient of the  U.S. President's Lifetime Achievement Award for Voluntary Service, a Mayoral appointee to the  City of Providence’s Municipal Reparations Commission (2022), and is the 2023 recipient of  Justice Assistance’s Neil J. Houston, Jr Memorial Award. 

Watson is currently the CEO/Founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative and the  Policy Director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights; two nonprofits based in Providence,  Rhode Island. Watson also serves as the Chippinuonk Sâchem of the Mashapaug Nahaganset  Tribe and the Director General of the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas.