Victoria Watlington ’13 (D) won the Charlotte City Council District 3 primary last month, and with no general election opponent, she is elected to the council. Her campaign platform is based on community-driven strategic planning, affordable and workforce housing, transportation issues and economic mobility.
Watlington, who recently received the 2019 Outstanding Young Alumna Award from the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association, knows how to get things done, whether on her job as a service operations manager for The Coca-Cola Company, or in her West Charlotte neighborhood.
For the past 10 years, she has worked to improve conditions in her community through service on the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition Board, the Charlotte Civil Service Board, as co-chair of the United Way Central Carolinas Young Leaders Council Programming Committee and as a member of the city’s Business Advisory Committee.
Watlington’s advocacy and activism have not gone unnoticed. In addition to being named the 2017 recipient of the Young Professional Award by the Charlotte Chamber, she is Pride Magazine’s Outstanding Millennial for 2018, a member of the 2018 class of Elevate Lifestyle’s 30 Under 30 Future Leaders of Charlotte and a 2019 New Leaders Council Fellow.
A passionate member of the National Society of Engineers, Watlington, whose master’s degree is in engineering management, has led programs that support African American students enrolled in engineering programs at UNC Charlotte, Johnson C. Smith University, North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T State University.
“I met some of my best friends at UNC Charlotte, fellow Niners and engineers who welcomed me to join them in serving the Charlotte community through the Charlotte Professionals Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers,” said Watlington. “It's how my service in Charlotte began and what connected me to my new home as a young engineer.”
Watlington is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. She has held management positions with Procter & Gamble and Sealed Air Corporation; her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering is from the University of Florida.