Dr. Robin Martin leads the strategy, planning and management efforts of the Postsecondary Success team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She brings more than 20 years of higher education experience and a doctoral degree in Urban Education Leadership to her role, where she focuses on: operational excellence, development and execution of key elements of the team's work—including an intentional focus on integrating equity as an essential element of all systems’ success.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Martin crafted a widely disparate and consistently impressive career in the post-secondary world. She served as an associate provost for diversity and inclusion, spearheading hiring initiatives and programs focused on building sustainable equitable practices at an R1 university; she taught and conducted her own researched as a tenure-track faculty member; and she made national news for her focus on equity in hiring and culture-building as a collegiate athletic director and coach.
She brings with her extensive expertise in strategic planning, leadership development, recruitment and retention, and diversity and inclusion. Her doctoral research and related work focuses on inclusive leadership and organizational change, notably as seen through the lens of the African-humanist philosophy called Ubuntu, which translates into a simple truth about our world’s interconnectedness: “I am because you are.”
Dr. Martin also founded Leading Beyond the Post, Inc., a full-service leadership development and executive coaching consulting company, in which she helps leaders and organizations translate corporate strategy into individualized leadership development. She is a master-level certified executive coach whose strategic design-thinking approach combines research and real-life experiences to help others develop strategic paths to achieve clarity, balance and success.
A sought-after speaker and valued strategic partner, Dr. Martin wrote Navigating Courage: Leading Beyond Fear in 2018. This collection of narratives and wisdom, drawn from her own experiences and studies, maps out the professional trials faced by women of color and minorities in the workplace and how she handled them.
In all of her efforts, Dr. Martin illuminates a path for academics and professionals to build true equity in and around institutions where it is both seriously lacking and essential.
