Cynthia Robbins

Robbins currently serves as a consultant to TimeBanks USA, as co-team leader with Dr. Edgar Cahn, of a Kellogg-funded Civil Rights Initiative designed to address the consequences of racism in many social service systems including juvenile justice and foster care. For too long, governments have evaded culpability for chronic and severe racial disparities. The Initiative team is developing a policy change and advocacy strategy designed to ignite communities of traditional disadvantage to demand  that government officials use knowledge of what works to co-produce brighter futures filled with opportunity
At the end of last summer, Robbins left the role of Executive Director of See Forever Foundation (SFF) and Maya Angelou Public Charter School (MAPCS). First as managing and then executive director, she led with a committed focus on the SFF/MAPCS mission of creating learning communities that provide low income Washington, DC students, particularly those who have not succeeded in traditional schools, a viable chance to reach their potential.  The school boasted graduation and college enrollment rates of close to 80% during her tenure.  Cynthia guided See Forever and Maya Angelou through a period of substantial growth. In less than four and half years, SFF/MAPCS grew from a one high school campus program for about eighty (80) students to five campuses serving 600 students last fall. The program focus also expanded adding a second high school campus, a middle school and two campuses serving young people in the delinquency system, one at the youth facility for secure confinement, Oak Hill, and the other at a Transition Center for youth upon release.
Robbins has experience as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney, adjunct professor of juvenile law, consultant and nonprofit leader dedicated to advocacy, education, leadership support and organizational development. Robbins has a BA from Harvard University and a JD from Stanford Law School.
She is currently an active board member of the Phelps Stokes Fund, the People’s Congregational Church Council and Scholarship Committee, the historic Lincoln Theatre on U Street, and former Chair of the Board of the DC Public Defender Service and member of the board of DC Vote, an organization seeking voting representation in Congress for DC residents.

Cynthia Robbins is a lawyer and consultant who co-leads the Racial Justice Initiative of TimeBanks USA (RJI or the Initiative).  She co-founded RJI along with TimeBanks founder Dr. Edgar Cahn. The Initiative, formally launched in 2009, is charged with helping to dismantle structural racism in public systems such as the juvenile delinquency, public education, particularly special education and child welfare systems. For too long, government officials have evaded culpability for chronic and severe racial disparities and social injury resulting from violations of the Constitution and federal law. The Initiative team is developing a policy change and advocacy strategy designed to ignite communities of traditional disadvantage to demand that government officials use knowledge of what works to co-produce brighter futures filled with opportunity.  Along with Dr. Cahn, Cynthia Robbins co authored: An Offer They Can’t Refuse: Racial Disparity in Juvenile Justice and Deliberate Indifference Meet Alternatives That Work, 13 UDC/DCSL L Rev. 1 (2010) and “Public Notice Forums” Choosing Among Alternatives to Confront the Intent Requirements,  Clearinghouse Review (Jul-Aug 2010, Volume 44, No. 3-4)

In June 2010, the Racial Justice Initiative spearheaded a public hearing process in the Pennsylvania State Capitol, with an aggregate of more than twelve hours of hearing testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Children and Families. Witnesses shared data about the injury and costs of over-reliance on incarceration, offered descriptions of effective alternatives, and provided poignant first-party accounts of successful alternatives to incarceration and the painful price of failing to expand reliance on these more effective and less expensive alternatives.

Prior to becoming a full-time consultant again in the fall of 2008, Robbins served as Executive Director of See Forever Foundation (SFF) and Maya Angelou Public Charter School (MAPCS). First as managing and then executive director, she led with a committed focus on the SFF/MAPCS mission of creating learning communities that provide low income, urban students, particularly those who have not succeeded in traditional schools, a viable chance to reach their potential. The school boasted graduation and college enrollment rates of close to 80% during her tenure.  Cynthia guided See Forever and Maya Angelou through a period of substantial growth. In less than four and half years, SFF/MAPCS grew from one high school for about ninety (90) students to five campuses serving 600 students in fall 2008. In addition, to opening a second high school, the program focus also expanded by establishing a middle school and two campuses serving young people in the delinquency system, one at the youth facility for secure confinement, then Oak Hill–now Maya Angelou Academy, and the other at a Transition Center for youth upon release.

Robbins has experience as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney, adjunct professor of juvenile law, and a leader of philanthropic and operating foundations dedicated to advocacy, education, leadership support and organizational development. Robbins earned her BA cum laude from Harvard University and a JD from Stanford Law School.

She is currently an active board member of the Phelps Stokes Fund, the People’s Congregational Church Council and Scholarship Committee, the historic Lincoln Theatre on U Street, and formerly served as Chair of the Board of the DC Public Defender Service and Vice-Chair of the board of DC Vote, an organization seeking voting representation in Congress for DC residents.