Cynthia Robinson

Cynthia Robinson is president of the Robertson Foundation for Government (RFG) where she directs grantmaking, management and operations, and stakeholder relations for RFG’s support of public service leadership development with an emphasis on foreign policy, international relations, and security. Robinson has more than 25 years of experience across the nonprofit, foundation, academic, and government sectors with U.S. and international scientific, environmental, education, and member associations. Prior to her current role, for 13 years Robinson was at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She directed the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowships, a nationally recognized STEM civic engagement program that places more than 275 fellows annually in the executive, judicial and legislative branches of U.S. federal government to support evidence-informed policymaking. She also served as senior policy advisor in the AAAS Center of Science, Policy and Society Programs, advising on the creation and operation of fellowship programs in the U.S. and internationally. Before joining AAAS in 2004, Robinson directed fellowships focusing on the environment and conservation, with the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation, and the Leopold Leadership Program. She has also worked in program management and communications in the sustainability for education realm, healthcare, and community development. Robinson holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, and a master's degree in urban and environmental policy from Tufts University, and served in the Peace Corps in Thailand and The Gambia. She is a recipient of a UNEP Fellowship in International Environmental Management, and a Switzer Foundation Environmental Fellowship. Robinson has held numerous volunteer leadership positions, including trustee and board chair of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation; trustee and overseer with the Sea Education Association; chair of the Public Leadership group of the International Leadership Association; advisor to the Canadian Science Policy Fellowship Program; and chair of the Education and Outreach Working Group of the Green Plan Steering Committee for the town of Cheverly, MD.