Ms. Christie Watson has approximately twenty-five years of Social Work experience. She attended the University of Cincinnati, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work (1998) and her Master’s degree in Social Work (2001). She is currently a Social Work Doctoral Candidate at the University Of Kentucky, graduating May 2023.
Ms. Watson is the Chief of Social Work, at the Cincinnati Veteran Affairs Medical Center (CVAMC). She has been employed at the CVAMC for twelve years providing direct care to Veterans, and leadership to the social work discipline. Before assuming the role of Chief, she was the Assistant Chief of Social Work Services. Ms. Watson started her VA career as a HUD-VASH case manager who piloted the Housing First Program. She went on to become a team lead, then the supervisor of Grant Per Diem and Health Care for Homeless Veterans program, in the Community Outreach Division, where she served for nine years. Prior to the CVAMC, Ms. Watson’s previous social work career focused on children and families, foster care and adoption, psychosocial therapy, transitional youth, and adult mental illness.
Ms. Watson has seventeen years of leadership experience. During her tenure as a leader, she states it is her goal to change the way people are supervised. Ms. Watson’s doctoral research has been based on the building a diverse and inclusive workforce, with a focus on the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Her capstone project is, Leadership Strategies for New Supervisors on Leading a Diverse Workforce. Ms. Watson posits that most leaders are not taught how to build supervisor-supervisee relationships. That poor leadership affects retention, job satisfaction, and engagement. Her research provides an overview of the literature highlighting current leadership strategies and frameworks, a conceptual supervisory framework, and a training guide for new supervisors.