The Pioneer: Shelley Carthen Watson

As president and CEO of the YWCA Minneapolis, Shelley Carthen Watson works to empower girls, women, and people of color, and eliminate barriers that reinforce disparities in health and education. A self-described recovering attorney, her journey to the Minneapolis Y was seemingly destined from an early age, growing up in San Bernadino, California.  

“I like to joke that the YWCA is in my DNA. I grew up in the YWCA in San Bernardino,” she recalled. “My grandmother volunteered there, and my mother was on the board. Our mission is eliminating racism and empowering women, and I grew up learning about the YWCA’s role in the civil rights and women’s movements,” she said. 

“We had African American women on our national board, integrated our facilities before the Civil Rights Act, and participated in the March on Washington. I could go on and on, so it was natural for me when I became an adult to become involved.” 

She served two terms on the Minneapolis YWCA board, remained on advisory committees, and also served on the board of the St. Paul YWCA. “I come to work each day and get to see firsthand the incredible work that we do here,” she said.

Before joining the Y, Carthen Watson had a successful law career. She said she knew she’d become an attorney at eight years old, when her grandmother introduced her to Thurgood Marshall. 

Carthen Watson carried out her childhood aspirations and graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago in 1985. After practicing entertainment law in Los Angeles, Carthen Watson relocated to Minnesota, where she’s made her mark as a prominent attorney.

Upon making partner at the Robins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi law firm in 1992, Carthen Watson became the first Black woman in Minnesota history to become partner at a large law firm. After having her daughter, who has followed in her mother’s footsteps as a civil rights lawyer in New Orleans, Carthen Watson transitioned through several roles before serving as associate general counsel in the General Counsel’s Office at the University of Minnesota for 22 years. 

“I went through a period about six years ago when I was feeling a bit restless in my career,” she said. “Thanks to the university, I was able to take a sabbatical and moved to Cape Town, South Africa for four months and worked as a legal consultant for the South African Human Rights Commission,” she continued. “It made me realize that I was happiest when I could put my skills as a lawyer to work effecting change.”

Carthen Watson sees the YWCA’s mission as eliminating racism and empowering women. “We are interrupting the cradle-to-prison pipeline through quality child care and after-school care,” she said. 

“We empower women by providing quality child care and support for families, so women can remain and advance in the workforce, and by providing opportunities for sustainable, well-paying jobs and financial security,” said Carthen Watson. “To me, success is when a child is happy, healthy, a citizen of the world, and a champion of social justice. I also enjoy being able to use the gifts with which I have been blessed to make a difference in the lives of others.

Her advice to young women looking to follow in her footsteps is, “You are, and always will be, enough,” she advised. “Never be afraid to reinvent yourself. Find your tribe—those sisters of the heart that are your fiercest critics, biggest cheerleaders, and who will straighten your crown for you when you forget that it exists.”

Pull quote: “Find your tribe—those sisters of the heart that are your fiercest critics, biggest cheerleaders, and who will straighten your crown for you when you forget that it exists.”