Johnson Watkins Called to Serve as Director of the NBA Incubator Initiative
The National Benevolent Association (NBA) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) calls Rev. Ayanna Johnson Watkins to serve as the Director of the NBA Incubator Initiative beginning December 1, 2014.
Through the Incubator Initiative, the NBA is partnering with Disciples-related health and social service projects and emerging organizations especially in their start-up phase and processes. As Director of the NBA Incubator Initiative, Rev. Johnson Watkins will administrate the Initiative including recruitment and the oversight of services for all Incubate partners, manage the Initiative budget, and provide evaluation of the Incubator Initiative. Watkins will serve as the Director of the NBA Incubator Initiative for three years with the opportunity of extension of the term.
Johnson Watkins states, “I am inspired to participate in a movement that has such promise for our Church and that will truly nurture communities of compassion and care. It is an honor to accompany Disciple entrepreneurs, who have been called to start new health and social service ministries and to help nurture and support new generations of ministry builders who might consider such a path. This is indeed an exciting time of God’s Spirit moving in our midst.”
Rev. Johnson Watkins’ professional skills and experiences includes ten years of directing professional and community development programs in settings such as intercity, youth collaboratives, academic graduate programs, new church development, and theological education. She has served as a teaching fellow at the University of Chicago Divinity School and created curriculum on urban pastoral care and community organizing. For three years, Johnson Watkins served on the steering committee for Chicago’s Black Men and Boy’s Initiative, a national advocacy and education initiative raising the visibility of the crisis facing African-American Black men and boys led by the philanthropic support of the 21st Century Foundation. She has a Master of Arts in Social Service Administration and a Master of Divinity degree both from the University of Chicago. She has served as First Vice Moderator (2007 – 2009) for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has written several publications on leadership development and ministry with Just Women Magazine and the Yale Journal of Sociology.
Rev. Rebecca Hale, Vice President of Mission and Ministry, conveys “Rev. Johnson Watkins brings an impressive spectrum of experience to this ministry from within the non-profit and church-related communities. Her leadership and skillset will help the NBA move forward in resourcing the Disciples of Christ for innovative health and social service ministries. We are excited for all that she brings to the mission and ministry team of the NBA.”
