Meet Mary

Mary Watts moved to Santa Rosa with her husband Greg in 2013 to provide a better quality of life for herself and her future family. Now Mary and Greg are happily raising their two daughters, Lorelai and London in Sonoma County. As a Mom, nothing is more important than the well-being and happiness of her children and all children. And high-quality education is key to her girls’ success and joy. 

Mary grew up knowing the value of working hard and helping others as she watched her single Mom overcome barriers. No matter what challenges were in the way, her Mom ensured Mary had access to great schools and teachers.  

Mary is a proud product of public schools from kindergarten to completing her Master’s in Public Administration from Sonoma State University. Upon completion, she went on to work with Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County (CAP) and served as the Deputy Director.  At CAP, Mary oversaw early childhood education programs housed at local schools, including school readiness programs for low-income Spanish-speaking families to prepare their kids for kindergarten. She also had the opportunity to oversee an alternative education program for youth ages 16 to 24 to complete their high school education, receive their diplomas, and learn job readiness skills. 

In 2021, Mary had the opportunity to work for the US Department of Health and Human Services as the Policy, Data, and Evaluation Branch Chief for the first-ever federal water assistance program, the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). Part of her work has been establishing educational materials about programs and working with different agencies and partners from federal, state, and local entities to implement the program nationwide. No matter what job she takes on, equitable values are at the core of her work.