Tell us why you joined the board.
I joined the Solidaire board because I believe in the power of networks to do things individuals and isolated groups can’t, the power of grassroots movements to secure lasting transformative change, and the power of radical calls for social, environmental, and racial justice to inspire and guide us on the path to healing our world.
What’s most important to you about being part of Solidaire?
Two things: First, being a part of a network with interconnected relationships that share deep values but span movements and geography. Second, being a part of a community of practice that is creating and modeling radically different and more effective ways of doing philanthropy and funding.
What does liberation mean to you?
On one level liberation is very practical, it means not being subject to oppressive systems and people who wield power to subjugate and extract for themselves. But on a deeper level, for me liberation isn’t just the end result of struggle, it is the ongoing practice of faith and belief that we can heal and transform the world, that nothing is fixed and immovable, that we can live in a world built on love, connection, and generosity.
Robin is a social change activist, strategist, and funder. He has spent his career supporting and running people-powered social justice, environmental, and political campaigns. He is currently president of his family’s foundation, the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation, and works as an advisor to numerous global funders and activist leaders through the Climate Breakthrough Project.
Before shifting his focus fully to philanthropy, Robin was Director of Innovation at Citizen Engagement Laboratory where he led strategy development services for incubated social and environmental justice startups and for larger legacy organizations looking to innovate. He was previously a Campaign Director at MoveOn.org where he focused on online to offline mobilization, viral campaign creation, and volunteer-powered election turnout. Before joining MoveOn, Robin led the launch of Change.org’s petition platform as the company’s first Organizing Director. He also previously ran the online organizing program at Rainforest Action Network and before that ran small-gift fundraising at Drug Policy Alliance.
Robin is passionate about supporting radical societal transformation. His work as a funder centers around supporting people creating widespread, lasting, and systemic change. He is especially interested in funding people typically without significant access to philanthropy, people using new approaches to scale their impact, people working through networks more than institutions, and people explicitly pushing for an end to capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy.