Shelley Carthen Watson

Shelley Carthen Watson is the president and CEO of YWCA Minneapolis. A nationally-renowned public higher education labor and employment law expert, she previously served as Senior Associate General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at the University of Minnesota. Prior to her role at the University of Minnesota, she was a partner with the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi. A former Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, Ms. Carthen Watson also served as executive director of the Hennepin County Bar Association and Hennepin County Bar Foundation. She received her BA from Macalester College, and her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

A former Macalester College trustee, Ms. Carthen Watson has served as a board member with both YWCA Minneapolis and YWCA St. Paul; Planned Parenthood of North Central States; The Blake School and The Blake School Learning Works; the Mastery School; Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Minneapolis Chapter; WATCH; In Interest For Others; The Playwrights’ Center; Minnesota Minority Lawyers Association; The Fund for the Legal Aid Society; Twin Cities co-chair of the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association. and the Courage Center. She currently serves as vice president – programs of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Chapter of the Links, Inc., on the boards of the Minneapolis Downtown Council and Northwestern Pritzker Law School Fund Board, and the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal Women’s Leadership Council.