Community Work
“I am an activist.
It’s just in my family and in my blood. My parents were activists and organizers. My grandfather was a community organizer his whole life.
In my professional life and in my personal life, it is important for me to know that I am contributing to something bigger and more important than myself. It is one of the reasons that multicultural marketing is so important to me; it provides an opportunity to do good while doing well.”
Mark Robinson’s first real opportunity to step up and make a difference came in 1980, at the beginning of his career. Fortunate to find his first studio apartment in a high-rise doorman building just three blocks from the office and one block from the United Nations, yet other tenants in the building were not so lucky. The other tenants were mostly U.N. workers from around the globe, including the entire Egyptian delegation to the U.N. Because they were foreign nationals and unfamiliar with New York rent regulations, the landlord was vastly overcharging on their rents. Mark organized a Tenants Association and led over 80 tenants on rent strike for 14 months. When the group finally got their day in court, they won and received dramatic rent rollbacks and retroactive rebates.
Over the years, Mark have been an active part of many organizations and initiatives, focusing his efforts and energy on his community (both Ridgefield and the State of Connecticut), his profession (advertising) and for communities of color.
In 1994, Mark was part of a group of community activists that formed ROUND (Ridgefielders Organized for Understanding and Diversity) and served as its chairman. ROUND organized and hosted dozens of community events over the years, including launching the area’s very first annual Gay Pride Festival. ROUND also inaugurated the town’s first Martin Luther King Day Celebration, which Mark Robinson organized and has hosted for the past 25 years.
“All my life, I have been a
passionate and effective
change agent in both public and private sector
settings.”
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In the 1990s, served as consultant and advisor to the State of Connecticut Board of Education for their state-wide educational diversity initiatives, including diverse teacher recruitment and retention. Drafted policy recommendations.
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Concurrently, chaired a special commission on diversity and inclusion for the Ridgefield School District. As a result of this work, was nominated for the 1994 Connecticut Human Rights Award.
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1995 – 2005, member of the board of directors of A Better Chance of Ridgefield
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2000 – 2012, Appointed by the Governor to the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, interfacing with various state agencies and news media, while overseeing several commission programs and activities targeted to minority youth. Served seven years as the Commission’s Vice Chairman.
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2003 – 2010, member of the Economic Development Commission.
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Advisor to the New York City Human Rights Commission 2006 investigation of workforce diversity in advertising agencies.
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Recipient of the 2009 Martin Luther King Leadership Award from the State of Connecticut for work in diversity, community service and multicultural education.
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2010 – 2020, member of the Ridgefield Youth Commission.
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2010 – 2012, Chairman of Effective Leadership for Ridgefield, a non-partisan, community-based think tank that develops ideas and programs for citizen engagement and volunteerism, including the rebuilding of a civics curriculum in the local school system.
In 2009, Democratic candidate Rudy Marconi asked Robinson to be his campaign manager in his race for governor of Connecticut. Mark served as the organizational head and senior strategist for the political campaign and oversaw the campaign team, both at headquarters and in the field. He built relationships and ongoing communications with Democratic party leadership, labor union leadership and community organizations throughout the state. Over the
years, Robinson has been a highly sought after senior political strategist for the Democratic Party and advisor to various political campaigns, party leadership and community organizations.