know about Gretchen Robinson
Gretchen Robinson is a 34-year-old attorney and current resident of Manhattan. She is the founder and president of The Roosevelt Island Public Purpose Fund, a $3 million endowment fund which provides grants to nonprofits on Roosevelt Island. Since its inception five years ago, the Fund has distributed more than $600,000 in grants to 13 organizations on the Island.
In this post we will meet Gretchen Robinson, learn about her work as a lawyer at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP and her involvement in philanthropy with the Roosevelt Island Community Trust’s Young Leadership Council (YLC) board when it came up for renewal. There, she learned about the Roosevelt Island Public Purpose Fund. With her YLC board term ending in 2011 and a goal to pursue philanthropy full-time, Gretchen was excited when the opportunity to lead the Fund presented itself.
Gretchen has been an attorney at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP since 2006 and focuses her practice on securities regulation, corporate finance, initial public offerings and private placements, mergers and acquisitions for major corporations and financial institutions. She advises clients in connection with SEC, FINRA and other regulatory matters related to the issuance of debt securities, including secured loan transactions, commercial paper programs, asset-backed securitizations, equity offerings by public companies as well as private company financings.
Gretchen Robinson has been involved with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) and its predecessors since the beginning. In 2010 she was appointed to be a member of the RIOC Finance Committee and in that capacity worked on the Organization’s debt restructuring. She also serves as a member of the Financial Oversight Committee.
In 2012, while serving on Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Board, she was appointed to be its representative to volunteer her time as President of The Roosevelt Island Public Purpose Fund.
The fund is a $3 million endowment that funds and supports programs that address community needs. The Fund is managed by the YLC, whose members are local students graduating from Manhattan high schools.