Faye Wattleton (born Alyce Faye Wattleton; 8 July 1943) is an American reproductive rights activist who was the first African American and the youngest president ever elected of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the first woman since Margaret Sanger to hold the position.

Wattleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1943, the only child of a construction worker father[4] and a mother who was a seamstress and a Church of God minister.

[11] Wattleton graduated from Columbia with her Master's of Science degree in maternal and infant care, with certification as a nurse-midwife, in 1967.

[11] Based on her view of neighborhood health clinics helping pregnant women in New York, Wattleton pushed for a similar system in Dayton.

[11] In Wattleton's role as midwife and deputy of visiting nurses in the Dayton Health Department, she saw many troubled women.

Wattleton accomplished a major victory for Dayton's Planned Parenthood when she began a successful initiative to provide teenagers with contraceptives without their parent's consent.

[11] In 1978, Faye Wattleton was appointed President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America by its board, making her the first African American woman to lead the organization.

[6] Under her presidency at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, from 1978 to 1992, the organization increased its range of health-care services and became more politically engaged.

[8][failed verification] Faye Wattleton had two major goals upon becoming president: (1) improve women's reproductive health, and, (2) promote gender equality.

[6] Anticipating that the 1980s would bring many political challenges, Wattleton wanted the organization to be able to respond effectively to the new environment created by the election of Ronald Reagan and the rise of the Religious Right.

Planned Parenthood clinics across the country experienced shootings, bombings, fires, and some employees were killed or injured.

[6] Faye Wattleton worked for reproductive rights at a time in America where the political tension surrounding the issue was mounting.

In January 1973, the Court issued Roe v. Wade ruling that women had the right under the constitution to terminate their pregnancies.

[16] In 2017, Wattleton Co-Founded EeroQ Quantum Computing with Nick Farina and Michigan State Professor Johannes Pollanen.

[11] Wattleton was experiencing immense change in her occupational path as director of Planned Parenthood, Miami Valley when her father got lung cancer.

[11] She worked during her pregnancy by running for President of the National Executive Directors Council (NEDC) of Planned Parenthood's midwestern regional affiliates.