Daniel Watson

Background

About Daniel Watson

Upon graduating from high school, I attended Johnson University in Knoxville, TN. Shortly after graduation, I married my high school sweetheart, Mandy. I was hired by West Towne Christian Church as the Associate Minister of Outreach, a role I filled for the seven years up to the founding of The Restoration House. From 2002 to 2009, I also served as a volunteer chaplain for the Knox County Sheriff's Office. In 2004 and 2005, Mandy and I adopted our two oldest children locally. In May of 2010 we adopted our youngest son from Ethiopia. It was our respective experiences as children of single mothers that prompted the vision for what is now The Restoration House, which we founded in 2006 to come alongside low-income mother-led families in our community after two years of research and development. In 2010, I was honored as one of Knoxville’s Top 40 Under 40 Business and Community Leaders by the Greater Knoxville Business Journal. I am also an alumni of Introduction Knoxville – Class of 2011, Leadership Knoxville – Class of 2014, and UTK’s Consortium for Social Enterprise Effectiveness – Class of 2014. In 2020, I was elected to the Knox County School Board where I focused on making our local education system more equitable for all students and families. After 5 years of due diligence I helped lead the effort to launch Olive Tree Early Learning Academy to provide high-quality early education and trauma responsive childcare for low and middle-income families in our community.