Join us for February’s Public Policy in Practice event as we welcome British A. Robinson, president and CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
British A. Robinson is president and CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Robinson is a transformative, visionary leader and social entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience spearheading initiatives in international and domestic health, education, corporate social responsibility, public-private partnerships, government relations, and advocacy and policy development.
A true innovator, Robinson previously served as Founding CEO of the Women’s Heart Alliance, a unique collaboration between two of America’s leading medical institutions: the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Her extensive nonprofit leadership experience also includes service as senior vice president of innovation and strategic initiatives at Women for Women International and vice president of global strategy and programs at Susan G. Komen. Robinson also served at the U.S. Department of State as the deputy coordinator/director of private sector engagement for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Additionally, during her tenure at the State Department, she held a special assignment as director and special advisor to Secretary Clinton’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, where she established and managed alliances and partnerships committed to advancing the rights of women and girls around the world.
In 2018, Robinson was selected through a national search to serve as the Barbara Bush Foundation’s first President and CEO after the passing of its founder, former first lady Barbara Bush. In this role, Robinson champions literacy’s inextricable connection to dignity, equity, and economic mobility, and spearheads the Foundation’s work to break multigenerational cycles of poverty, poor health, and gender and racial inequity through expanded access to educational opportunities.
Robinson holds a master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in public policy and business administration from George Washington University, and has received an honorary doctorate from Fairfield University. She serves on the boards of the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group; on the advisory councils of the Exodus Institute, First Book, the Inter-American Foundation, and Worldreader; on the advisory board of Arlington Partners International; and as a member of the XPRIZE Racial Equity Alliance Brain Trust.
About the series:
The Public Policy in Practice Series, led by Fels Distinguished Fellow Elizabeth Vale, is designed to provide students with a variety of perspectives and compelling personal narratives that will help them not only form their opinions on important issues but will also help shape their careers. This series is offered in conjunction with the Fels graduate Public Management course required of all Fels MPA and Executive MPA students. Fels is proud to offer these important conversations to the entire Penn community and members of the public.
Remarks begin promptly at 6 p.m.
