Erika Robinson-Watkins has a strong sense of pride for the Region, especially her hometown of East Chicago. After spending some time away while at college, Robinson-Watkins realized she couldn’t stay away for too long.
Robinson-Watkins graduated from East Chicago Central High School after growing up in the East Chicago area. She completed one year of college at Grambling State University in Louisiana before earning her degree in early childhood education from Morris Brown College in Georgia. Since then, she has completed two master’s degrees in the early childhood education field.
“I felt that I flourished the most while at Morris Brown,” Robinson-Watkins said. “I pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. My best friend from third grade went there with me, and it is where I met my husband, Terrance.”
After college, Robinson-Watkins taught elementary and high school for a few years before returning to the Region due to her grandmother’s health.
“My grandmother raised me during integral parts of my life, and I felt it was a calling for me to come home and be with her after she suffered from an aneurysm,” Robinson-Watkins said. “I grew up spending a lot of time with my grandparents because I had a single mother, and they meant everything to me. I got married on their 54th wedding anniversary in St. Catherine’s Hospital chapel so that my grandmother could be present. That can give you a clue into how much I was connected to my grandparents, but really my grandmother, so it made sense to stop everything and come home to make sure she was okay.”
Back at home, Robinson-Watkins works as the chief operating officer for Lisa’s Safe Haven Child Care, LLC. For the past 13 years, she has been able to make an impact within her community through the work she does with Lisa’s Safe Haven Child Care. With locations in East Chicago, Hammond and Griffith, Robinson-Watkins oversees all daily operations, making sure the right staff is in the right place and that all employees are aligned.
She also serves as the vice president of the Valparaiso School Board, something she never imagined being involved with. She credits her children for the growth she has experienced that allowed her to pursue serving on the school board.
The community that Robinson-Watkins has fostered for herself in the Region has been an undeniable constant in her life.
In her free time, Robinson-Watkins enjoys reading, practicing yoga, listening to podcasts and catching up with her two children in college, Talyn and Terrance II.
“Because I am willing to see what other’s lives that aren’t like mine look like, I have built strength to know what it’s like to struggle, to succeed and to put myself in rooms that I am not fully comfortable in, but being okay with the people that are in that room to give me the knowledge that I need to grow,” she said.