EXPERT ON:
◉ Goal Setting & Achievement
◉ Inspirational Life Story
◉ Legacy & Calling
◉ Motivation & Mindset
◉ Overcoming Adversity
EXPERIENCE:
◉ From Rock Bottom to National Impact — TEDx and keynote speaker whose journey spans addiction, homelessness, incarceration, and recovery, proving that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.
◉ Leader in Reentry & Justice Reform — Senior Director at New Jersey Reentry Corporation, driving legal services, workforce reintegration, and grant development for returning citizens.
◉ Elite Endurance Athlete & Inspirer — IronMan finisher and Team USA triathlete who uses extreme challenges to rebuild confidence and inspire others to attempt what feels impossible.
Damon Christian Watson is a TEDx Speaker, Keynote Speaker, ex-offender, former addict, former Skid Row resident, IronMan, TeamUSA Athlete, and an industry award-winning Nonprofit Professional. Among other groups, Watson has spoken before ex-offenders, workforce readiness agencies, and judicial organizations, delivering his message that anyone can achieve greatness, even in the face of impossible circumstances, because there does not need to be anything special about someone for them to do something special.
In September 2004, Damon Christian Watson was named a Rising Star by Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine. More than 20 years later, Watson was named a Rising Star by NonProfit PRO. A lot happened in between.
Watson earned degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He started a family and a promising career, but in the mid-2000s his world exploded. He lost six family members in five years. He became depressed, addicted (meth), jobless, homeless, and incarcerated (during COVID). In jail, Watson read a newspaper article about New Jersey Reentry Corporation – a nonprofit pursuing a mission to remove employment barriers facing those returning home from incarceration. He saw providence in that article. Upon his release he pursued NJRC and on September 28, 2020, he started work as a part-time Legal Services Coordinator (LSC).
Today, Watson is NJRC’s Senior Director of Legal Services and Corporate Development (SDLS). As the SDLS, Watson reports directly to the Chief Legal & Compliance Officer (CLO) and is the team captain for the LSCs –non-lawyers who provide myriad services to NJRC’s participants (including municipal court warrant recalls and fine waivers, pro se criminal record expungements, suspended Driver License clearance, recovery of State IDs, Birth Certificates and Social Security Cards, and referrals to pro bono legal assistance). In addition to his Legal Services responsibilities, Watson manages NJRC’s grant applications and industry award campaigns.
In his free time, Watson does hard things (e.g., IronMan and TeamUSA Traithlon World Championships) both to rebuild the self-confidence he lost during his time away, and to inspire others to try things they believe they can’t do (so that they can discover what they can do). His story also was featured in a New York Times piece in December 2024
