Robin Gerber is the author of several books including Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way: Timeless Strategies from the First Lady of Courage and Katharine Graham: The Leadership Journey of an American Icon with a foreword by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. Her novel Eleanor vs. Ike (Harper/Avon), imagines Eleanor Roosevelt as a candidate for President. Her latest book, Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her, tells the fascinating story of how one visionary woman and her product changed an industry and sparked a lasting debate about women’s roles. Gerber’s books are used in leadership development courses and corporate programs across the United States. She is also a lawyer and senior faculty for the Gallup Organization, and a senior fellow in Executive Education at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.
Gerber is an inspirational keynote speaker on leadership development, using moving stories from the lives of Eleanor Roosevelt, Katharine Graham, and other great leaders to illustrate leadership lessons. Her clients include Bank of America, IBM, Marriott, Legg Mason, JP Morgan/Chase, Freddie Mac, Aetna Information Services, the AARP, Lee Hecht Harrison, Giant Food, The Culinary Institute, West Point, the U.S. Forest Service, the Council for Excellence in Government, The 3rd Quality Conference of the European Union, and many universities, colleges, girls’ schools, nonprofits, and government agencies.
Gerber is a national commentator on women, leadership and politics. Her opinion pieces appear frequently in national newspapers and she writes one of the most popular columns for Reader’s Digest, “You Be the Judge.”
Prior to becoming an author, Gerber practiced law in Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill. She has studied and written about leadership development since 1975.
Praise for Robin Gerber’s Speeches:
“I recently had Robin Gerber speak at one of our Women in Business meetings. She was outstanding. Robin also spoke at a client event and she did an outstanding job with that event as well. I would use her again for client events, leadership team meetings or advisor development sessions.”
— Patrick H. O’Connell, Group Vice President Ameriprise Financial
“Robin’s content is engaging and inspiring, and she was willing to customize for our audience. The result exceeded our goals. Feedback from our audience of senior executives was outstanding and, based on the post-event survey scores, Robin’s speech was valued as strongly as speakers whose fees are four-times higher.”
— CJ Bordwell, Managing Director, Sheridan Marketing
“Robin, it was a highlight of this young, new year to have heard you speak and had the chance to visit with you both before and after your talk last night. I’ve already heard people talking about the breakfast version this morning who had friends or colleagues attend it, and it sounds like you made the same smashing impression on everyone!”
— Tara Stevens, Vice-President, Corporate Human Resources, Time Warner
“Thank you so much for a wonderful talk at our state convention. I have heard nothing but glowing remarks about your presentation!”
— Debbie McCaffrey, Immediate Past President, BPW/VA
“When Robin Gerber spoke as part of our Voices of Experience speakers series she became a catalyst, exciting our women MBA students to search out and find other voices who might speak to professional women in search of their leadership style. She was exactly what we hoped for and hope to have her return in the near future.”
— Sam Cassidy, Chair, Department of Business Ethics and Legal Studies,
Daniels College of Business University of Denver
“I attended the breakfast in Birmingham this morning, and I just have to tell you – Thank you! I realize more and more in life that we have those days that are full of ‘fate’. Today was one for me, and your message and positive attitude meant the world to me and my attitude. I work for Parisian and Saks, Inc. and we have had quite a ‘change’ filled week! Thank you for doing such a remarkable job of research and story telling around Katherine Graham’s life. It is such an inspiration. Well, I just wanted you to know that you had a huge impact on someone’s life today!”
— Sherry Lyons, Director of Human Resources, PARISIAN
“Thanks for sharing the details of your book and the story of Ms. Graham at the Penn Club yesterday. I measure the success of my learning when I attend a seminar or training program by the number of quotable ‘quotes’ I am able to jot down. I recorded over ten that you mentioned. Great material for thought.”
— Michael Miller, Human Resources Manager, Dow Jones Company