Raymond Two Hawks Watson, Esq. is an attorney, advocate, educator, cultural practitioner, convener, and business professional with eighteen years ofexperience 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.

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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 is licensed to practice law by the Rhode Island Supreme Court and by the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. In 2021 Watson was consulting co-lead for development of the City of Providence’s Municipal Reparations Reconciliation Framework, and in 2022 Watson was a mayoral appointee to the City of Providence’s Municipal Reparations Commission and founded the international and annual Meshanticut Cultural Placemaking Confestival. Watson is the recipient of several awards and recognitions including the Rhode Island Foundation’s Carter Innovation Fellowship (2016), the U.S. President's Lifetime Achievement Award for Voluntary Service (2021), Justice Assistance’s Neil J. Houston, Jr. Memorial Award (2023), Juneteenth R.I.’s Cultural Champion Award (2024), and the State of Rhode Island General Assembly Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. State Holiday Commission’s Community Service Award (2025).

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Watson is currently the Executive Director ofthe Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights and the President & CEO of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative; two 501c3 nonprofits based in Providence, Rhode Island. Watson currently chairs the Board of Directors of the Mount Hope Community Center and serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education. Watson also serves as the Chippinuonk Sâchem of the Mashapaug Nahaganset Tribe and as the Director General of the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas.