“Giving Back” Panel
Recording Now Available
Giving Back Panel Cast
This moderated discussion elevated the idea of “community service” through the eyes of five our classmates. Each 1990 alum also shared how their Brown experiences brought them meaning.
Our excellent panelists included:
Robert Atkins Ph.D. – Anna D. Wolfe Endowed Professor, Executive Vice Dean. The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (Baltimore, MD)
Greg Baldwin — Head of Partnerships, One Degree; Founder of VolunteerMatch (Berkeley, CA)
Susan Friedland — CEO, Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (Albany, CA)
Bill Fulton — Founder and Executive Director, The Civic Canopy (Denver, CO)
Brown 1990 Leadership Team Board Member Rodney Robinson, principal director of the Robinson Family Foundation, moderated our event.
Bob Atkins ‘90 | Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Bob Atkins PhD is the Anna D. Wolfe endowed professor and has spent most of his career working to improve the health and well-being of marginalized children and families living in distressed neighborhoods. Early in his career, he worked as a school nurse at East Camden (NJ) Middle School and co founded the Camden STARR Program, a nonprofit development program dedicated to improving the life chances of young people in Camden. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science and American civilizations from Brown University and bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Atkins has also served as national program director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI) program. In this role, he created meaningful partnerships between stakeholders from higher education, philanthropy, local and state governments, and communities.
Greg Baldwin ‘90 | VolunteerMatch
Greg is a mission-driven leader, strategic thinker, and public-interest technologist with 20+ years of experience operating at the intersection of community, technology, and policy. He currently serves as One Degree’s Head of Development & Partnerships, working to strengthen and expand the network of stakeholders building a better and more equitable social safety net in America.
Greg is the former CEO of VolunteerMatch.org, the web’s largest volunteer engagement network, where he was responsible for scaling a cross-sector digital platform that now helps the social sector attract and engage millions of talented volunteers a year.
He is a data and public policy nerd with a strong equity and systems orientation. Greg remains an active volunteer providing pro-bono database support to the Sarara Foundation, the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, and Zephyr Impact. He also serves on the Advisory Board at the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at The University of Texas at Austin.
Greg has East Coast roots but now lives with his wife, family, and two dogs in Berkeley, CA.
Susan Friedland ’90 | Satellite Affordable Housing
Susan Friesland ‘90 is the CEO of Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, a nonprofit affordable housing developer located in the SF Bay Area. During her 20 year tenure at SAHA, she has overseen the development of over 4,000 apartments in 80 buildings that provide affordable rental housing and support services to low income families, seniors, veterans, people with special needs and those who have experienced homelessness. Prior to SAHA, she ran the housing development department at Fifth Avenue Committee, a nonprofit community group in Brooklyn, NY. She serves on the boards of National Housing Partnership and California Housing Consortium. In her free time, she supports the music program in her local public schools and is currently working to save her hometown movie theater.
She has a BA in Urban Studies from Brown and a Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.
Bill Fulton ’90 | The Civic Canopy
Bill Fulton is the founder and Executive Director of The Civic Canopy, a Denver-based nonprofit that “creates the conditions where the many work as one for the good of all.” The Canopy transforms the way pivotal issues in society are solved, creating a new culture across Colorado that brings often unheard and conflicting voices to the same table, designing spaces that foster understanding and trust, and mobilizing towards collective action that results in systemic change. The Canopy’s ultimate vision centers around equity as we help build thriving communities in which all participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.
Prior to founding The Civic Canopy, Bill was a founding teacher at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning, a national educational consultant with Facing History and Ourselves, and then started his own corporate and civic consulting firm, Civil Conversations LLC. He earned an undergraduate degree in history from Brown University, an MA in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology focusing on dialogue and social change.
Bill lives in Denver with his wife Marcia, and two children Elena and Ben.
Rodney Robinson ’90 | Robinson Family Foundation
Rodney Robinson is the principal Director of the Robinson Family Foundation which supports numerous education and social service organizations. Rodney earned a bachelor’s degree in American Civilization from Brown University and has taken continuing education classes at Columbia University Business School and New York University. He was a founder of usatoday.com in 1994 at the start of the Internet era and has led sales efforts at Yahoo, Google and Meta during his career. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Dean College in Franklin, MA, the Ivy League Club of Sarasota, Florida,and is on the Capital Campaign steering committee for the Episcopal High School of Virginia.
Rodney splits his time between Sarasota, FL and Silver Spring, MD with his partner Jennifer Bowser, class of ‘91. Robinson has two adult children, daughters Brennan of Evanston IL and Maia of Brooklyn, NY. He is an active tennis player and boater with the Sarasota Power Squadron.
At Brown, he started on East campus in Unit 19 Perkins and was loyal to ECDC. As an alumni, he served on the Board of Governors for the Brown University Alumni Association and most recently the Communications Advisory Committee to President Paxson.