Sean A. Watkins (they/them) is an award-winning nonbinary Brooklyn-based storyteller, consultant, public speaker, collaborator, community organizer, entrepreneur, and activist. They founded Agency of Joy in 2018 as a “heart-centered” social change company to collaborate with people, organizations, and companies at the intersection of activism, social media, and social and environmental justice.
Sean’s work is driven by a deep passion and mission to uplift and center stories by Black queer, trans, and nonbinary storytellers of past, present, and future. They’ve worked with hundreds of leaders, from Los Angeles to London, Pittsburgh to the Phillippines, promoting a joyful, life-affirming perspective of social justice and championing a unique vision of radical imagination that challenges how people navigate race, sexuality, gender, and more.
Sean’s media hosting, career, and consultant work in social change, strategy, and storytelling have reached millions of people. In 2022, they were honored “Leader of the Year” in the Inaugural Anthem Awards for their TEDx talk, The Game We Didn’t Know We Were Playing, which addresses how we might begin to dismantle white supremacy culture at work. They have been featured in Interview Magazine as one of the “New Activists” of 2016, and have been named one “50 innovators with fresh, forward-thinking solutions to some of humanity’s biggest challenges” by Grist.
Sean is often dancing in their apartment or biking through the city. They are an avid traveler, with fluency in Brazilian Portuguese and intermediate fluency of Spanish.
About
After first finding their voice as a high school foreign exchange student in Brazil, Sean A. Watkins went on to be a fierce student leader at Michigan State University before they joined the workforce as a content creator and social media specialist. The former Campaign Manager for The Solutions Project, a clean energy nonprofit and media campaign co-founded by actor Mark Ruffalo, they and their team were responsible for seeking out everyday champions across the country and celebrating their leadership with surprise billboards, Hollywood shoutouts, and videos over social media. Working with groups of all sizes, from GreenFaith to PUSH Buffalo, The People’s Climate Movement to Believe Out Loud, they have supported dozens of organizations to harness the power of story and social media to establish their digital footprints.
Agency of Joy is Sean’s calling card to the world and their proudest achievement. In their career so far, Sean’s top joy moments include being the host and co-executive producer of The Solutions Project’s “Climate Curious,” the groundbreaking 8-week live digital series focused on climate change solutions. The series gained over 1.2 million views across 46 countries in 2020.
Other highlights include co-producing the Black Women Leading panel series with Don Cheadle and Christina Coleman (formerly of Glamour and ESSENCE magazines); co-organizing a march for climate action in Rome with a blessing from Pope Francis; working with celebrity, social, and political influencers such as Yeb Saño, Chris Evans, Malissa “Mali” Hunter, and Cameron Russell; and working with organizers, activists, and artists around the globe.
Their goal is to celebrate people and groups working to build a more collectively liberated world and to inspire others to be their own agents of joy.