Lisa A.
Watkins
Senior Vice President, Sponsored Grants & Contracts
Truth Initiative
Bio
Lisa Watkins brings three decades of nonprofit accounting experience to her work at Truth Initiative. As Senior Vice President, she is responsible for the management of Truth’s portfolio of grant and contract awards which support research designed to achieve a generation for whom smoking, vaping and nicotine use is a thing of the past.
Watkins’ work includes facilitating and monitoring financial and administrative compliance with federal regulations. She ensures comprehensive accounting, budgeting, and reporting for all sponsored awards and works closely with research investigators and program staff throughout the life cycle of the grant process. Watkins has supported over $50 million in grant awards to Truth Initiative since 2007.
Watkins is a CPA and earned her Master of Business Administration from California State University. Before joining Truth Initiative, she worked at Langan Associates, an accounting firm that focuses solely on nonprofit organizations. During her eight year tenure, she managed a diverse array of clients, on average 10 accounts per month, addressing challenges that allowed her exponential professional development.