Leticia Watkins

I was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to a hardworking mother who wanted opportunities for her children. At age three, she enrolled me in a day camp at the Salvation Army where I gained an early love for learning and reading.

Due to financial hardships, we moved to my mother’s rural hometown of Surry, Virginia when I was seven. There, the school championed disadvantaged students and exposed us to opportunities to enhance our development. When I was eight, my teacher enrolled me in an enrichment program at William & Mary College. From then on, I spent half my childhood summers outside playing with my cousins and the other half in programs at colleges and universities all over the state.

Later, I earned a degree in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, and became a pharmaceutical research scientist. Away from the lab, I was devoted to improving reading literacy in Richmond City Schools and leading youth programming at my church. I wanted to invest in young people, like me, from underserved communities and give them access to the type of opportunities that had been so pivotal in shaping me.

In 2009, I relocated to Birmingham to pursue my Master's at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). While there, I chartered a program that connected undergraduates with professional mentors and provided scholarships to minorities transferring from a two-year college to UAB. After earning my Masters's in Medical Science, I paired my love for science and students and began working for Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum (ICAC) at UAB and trained educators in technologies to increase student engagement in Birmingham City Schools.

Currently, I serve as Director of Children & Youth at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church. In my seven-year tenure, I have created transformative youth programs, developed conscious student leaders, and worked alongside our schools to help enrich students’ lives.

My life is a testament to the value of advocating for children to create educational opportunities with lasting impacts. I have dedicated my career to investing in the youth here in Birmingham, and I want to serve our communities and schools as a District 6 School Board member. As a School Board member, I will listen, build relationships with stakeholders, and work to address hindrances to student achievement. I will commit to providing the kind of opportunities my mother wanted for her children - the opportunities I know our children deserve