Robin Pendoley is an educator and social impact inciter based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has served as classroom teacher and administrator in public schools, founder and CEO of an educational nonprofit, and collective impact facilitator. In each of these roles, Robin has worked to develop leaders and institutions that create a more just, equitable, and sustainable society.
After 8 years in nonprofits and public schools serving under-resourced communities, Robin co-founded Thinking Beyond Borders (TBB), an international education institution. The intensive and highly rigorous study abroad programs challenged aspiring social impact leaders to critically examine "do-gooding" as a means of unlocking transformative approaches to contributing to change. Over 13 years, TBB became an industry leading gap year brand with programs spanning 14 countries.
Today, Robin serves in his home community to advance racial equity in the public education system. As a collective impact facilitator, his work supports educational, social service, and community leaders to overcome the barriers to effective collaboration and system change in the service of local youth and families. His work includes supporting the development of a comprehensive educator of color pipeline to diversify the local education workforce, and facilitating the development of Community Schools. Ultimately, this work aims to reshape how power is held and wielded in the community, most notably by ensuring BIPOC youth and families are essential decision makers in partnership with system leaders.
With a BA in International Development from UCLA and Master's in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Robin has advanced expertise in social impact theory and practice, as well as how to develop high impact, values-centered leaders. He's a skilled executive leader, having ensured effective governance and oversight on boards, engaged in rigorous financial oversight, led data-informed strategic planning, and developed a culture of learning and development. Robin believes that meaningful value creation requires a commitment to critical engagement with our values and privilege at each step of the journey.
I have known Robin since 2007 when Harvard University's Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education Fernando Reimers asked me to advise him and his friends on the creation of Thinking Beyond Boundaries. This program created a vital gap year experience for graduating high school students and I became their first advisor. The program took students to destinations around the globe with service projects dedicated to addressing themes that ranged from environmental degradation to poverty, health, and malnutrition. He chose the name of their initiative, Thinking Beyond Borders, from the mantra that I had chosen for my Tufts Institute – Thinking Beyond Boundaries: Acting Across Borders. I have always been impressed by Robin's concern about not only the quality of education but also his emphasis on inclusion and the equality of access to education. He is a superb mentor.