Gretchen Robinson is a seasoned New-York based lawyer and the General Counsel plus Vice President at Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. She was brought up in Washington, District of Colombia, and attended the University of Virginia and the Washington College of Law at the American University, where she got a B.A and Juris Doctor Degree, respectively.
Throughout her law career, she has worked in the District Attorney’s Office in Queens, the Civilian Compliant Review Board, and the Empire State Development Corporation. Her first position at the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation was as an officer for Compliance and Internal Controls, a position she got in 2015.
As an organization developed to help develop and maintain Roosevelt Island, RIOC has completed many projects in building or upscaling infrastructure and implementing projects to improve the residents’ lives.
Gretchen Robinson has been part of numerous such projects, including opening a learning lab at Sportspark in 2020 and awarding grants worth $150,000 to 13 nonprofits in 2022.
They also erected a monument to honor Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, also known as Bellie Bly. They did this to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her death after she went into NYC’s most notorious asylum as an undercover patient.
While she is not responsible for the ideas implemented by RIOC, she says collaboration and brainstorming have been an essential part of their process to decide the best way to resolve unique issues.
As the organization’s general counsel, Gretchen Robinson says she encourages her teams to give their opinions and contribute to every task. She says this encourages the team members to come up with unique ideas, which often lead to the most effective solutions.
She describes herself as a results-driven person who invests much in remaining organized. Therefore, she always creates to-do lists, showing everything she has to do or delegate to her team. She also invests a lot in continually improving her skills, which encouraged her to enroll in the Dale Carnegie Managerial Training Course. Besides her career, Gretchen Robinson enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, shopping, watching movies, and entertaining others.