As he prepared to be recognized as a soon-to-be Howard alumnus at a ceremony recognizing graduates from the School of Social Work, Jamerson Watson was in a celebratory mood. However, he knows the hard work is yet to come. Graduating with a dual master's degree in social work and divinity, Watson is preparing to tackle society's toughest issues. 

For over twenty years, Watson has worked to address pressing societal challenges such as violence and housing justice, along with supporting rape crisis centers and batterer intervention programs. He co-founded the consulting group Liberation in Action, which helps workplace teams understand implicit bias in the way they they work. He also owns Davis and Hunter Consulting, which works to achieve equity and racial justice through systematic change. He wants to be a bridge between the religious, advocacy, and social services communities, which often need to work together but sometimes misunderstand each other. He hopes he can used what he learned in his dual degree program to help close the gap. 

"I think a lot of people in ministry really aren't trauma-informed or equipped to really support the people that they're supposed to be ministering to, and then people in social work really don't know how to interact or work with like faith-based communities," he said. "So it's a perfect marriage or both disciplines."

He is incredibly engaged in both his profession and the Howard community. While at Howard, he served as executive vice president for the School of Social Work Student Council and executive president for the School of Divinity Student Council. He was a student fellow with the Washington Interfaith Network and interned as a social care worker for Veterans on the Rise. He previously worked as a project director for the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and as a program manager for the Bay Area Women Against Rape and a housing solutions organization. Earlier in his career, he was a field organizer for Amnesty International, which works to buttress the human rights of people around the world. 

Watson is unapologetic about why he came to Howard — to better understand how to help marginalized communities like those in Black neighborhoods. After he graduates, he plans to get right to work addressing issues like human trafficking, systematic racism, gender inequity, and sexism. He feels empowered knowing that there are other Howard-trained alumni serving the community alongside him.

"I just think having these these amazing colleagues, and going through the rest of my life knowing that they're in a field that is providing and doing God's work, 100% gives me the confidence and the validation that we're doing the right thing," he said.