A. J. Watson is the National Director for Becoming A Man, Youth Guidance. For the past 20 years, A.J. has worked across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to meet people where they are and make connections that allow them to reach their full potential. As the National Director of Youth Guidance’s BAM program, he is responsible for leading a team of over 250 highly-trained staff that meet young men where they are, both physically and emotionally, and take them on a journey to learn, practice, and internalize the knowledge, skills, mindsets and values necessary to become responsible and contributing young men. As the Founder, CEO and Principal Consultant of The Ascendancy Group, LLC he seeks to translate those experiences to benefit other leaders on a similar journey. The Ascendancy Group exists to make the journey of bringing promising interventions for Boys and Young Men of Color to scale by helping leaders and teams overcome alignment challenges and increasing their confidence and capacity to execute their chosen scaling strategies.
