Lottie Watts is the National Retail Federation’s senior manager of media relations. In this role, she manages key media relations efforts, working to drive awareness and promotion of NRF initiatives, events and consumer research.
Prior to joining the NRF media relations team in 2022, Watts worked for the NRF Foundation, crafting communications to highlight the nonprofit’s programs and resources that help people build life-changing careers in retail.
Her previous journalism work was honored with an RTDNA National Edward R. Murrow Award and has been recognized by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists and Associated Press Broadcasters. At WUSF Public Media, she produced the station’s weekly public affairs show and reported on health policy, the Florida Legislature, political campaigns and more. Her stories aired on public radio stations statewide and nationally on NPR, and appeared in the Miami Herald and Tampa Tribune.
Originally from upstate New York, Watts has a master’s degree in journalism and media studies from USF St. Petersburg. She earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University.