Harris County Treasurer Dr. Carla L. Wyatt says she never set out to make history.
But in 2022, when she was elected the first African American woman to hold the post, she finally realized the weight of this milestone.
“I am not a politician by any stretch of the imagination. I am a public servant and I work every day to try to be that.”
Dr. Carla L. Wyatt
“I am not a politician by any stretch of the imagination,” Wyatt told the Defender. “I am a public servant and I work every day to try to be that. I know there’s some politics involved and some of it gets on the bottom of your shoes sometimes, but if you keep on marching, you’ll still reach your destination.”
Wyatt won the race for Harris County Treasurer with 51.6% of the vote (550,214 votes), defeating Republican Kyle Scott, who received 48.4% (515,472 votes).
Now, having been in the role for more than a year and serving the public for over two decades, the Houston native wears her duties like a second skin, often adding pragmatic and human touches to her job.
From biology to budgets
Wyatt completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biology and her Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology at Texas Southern University. She aimed to become a doctor, but life had other plans. Following an internship with the Harris County Engineering Department that pulled her into public service, Wyatt rotated within various county departments over the next two decades, including flood control and emergency management during Hurricane Harvey.
During the hurricane, she coordinated global media communications out of the county’s emergency operations center and recalled sleeping on the floor for 37 days straight.
“You just didn’t see me because it takes a team of people to make these things happen,” Wyatt said. “I was the person in the background, throwing chairs and yelling, but somebody has to run the show that’s not trying to be on camera. And that person was me.”
What a treasurer actually does
Harris County residents often do not realize what the Treasurer’s office does.
“I move the money from place to place,” Wyatt explained. “I don’t make the decisions on where it’s going. I simply move it at the will of the Commissioner’s Court…We move it to the contractors, to payroll, to anything that you see at Harris County, from paint to flooring and jury duty.”
Despite the workload and responsibilities, Wyatt said her office employs 11 staffers and has advocated for more personnel and to be paid at par with the Commissioners’ offices.
“To be the third largest county in the U.S. and to be the largest county in the state of Texas, we have 11 people working in our office,” she said. “I do not believe that 11 people can serve the will of the county in a way that they deserve.”
Equity as a practice, not a buzzword
Although Wyatt does not decide on where county funds are channeled, she shows up in underserved communities — seniors’ breakfasts, churches and youth programs — to build trust and provide assistance.
“I’m working very hard to get an outward-facing portion of our office to the public so that they can know what we’re doing,” Wyatt said.
For Wyatt, equity is not about flashy campaigns but access to city officials. “If you don’t know who we are and what we do or how to get in contact with us, then it’s pointless,” she explained.
The life behind the job
Reflecting on years of public service, Wyatt veered into a spiritual terrain.
“This is not a job. This is life,” she said.
She carries it with purpose, following what she calls the “four Ls”: life logic, law and legacy.
“Life may have you in a situation that logically you should not be in, but the law will govern that that is where you’re going to be,” Wyatt said. “And those three things can have a positive or negative effect on your legacy of life.”
A legacy without a title
For young women who dream of holding leadership roles in public finance or governance one day, Wyatt asks them to always believe in themselves and embrace what they have been through.
“Live your life. It’s yours,” she said. “If it ain’t good, make it look good. Dress yourself up, fix your face. Don’t be walking around here looking like a throwaway. It’s okay to get yourself together and set yourself apart.”
She added that personal experiences taught her that detours are not derailments, they are redirections.
On her legacy as the first Black woman to hold her role, Wyatt said she does not want to be remembered for her title but the impact she has left behind.
“The legacy that I’d like to leave behind has absolutely nothing to do with me,” she said. “It has to do with everyone else and how I can enhance or help their journey.”
