Robin Stevens brings a unique blend of experience to her consulting practice: A specialty in organizational development and change; Extensive experience working as a manager and a lawyer in a complex environment; and Expertise in developing courses for and teaching professionals and graduate students.

She understands the complexity of organizational life: how projects go awry; how people get stuck trying to get things done; how confusing some work situations can be; how much the other firms in an organization’s operating environment influence its ability to perform well.

Robin founded her consulting firm in 2001 after a career in New York City public transit.

Robin managed New York City Transit’s supply chain. As Vice President, Materiel Division, she managed the purchase of over $1B in services, capital projects, rolling stock, parts, and supplies annually and an inventory of $125M for the city’s subway and bus operation. Robin developed staff capacity to manage work and improve processes with particular attention to defining goals, roles, and responsibilities.
The division:

	Revamped vendor management to assure that low bid vendors did not remain high cost suppliers, achieving significant improvements in on-time parts' deliveries. This enabled more cost-effective maintenance, fewer vehicles out of service, and better use of staff resources.
	Worked with bus maintenance to redefine roles, responsibilities, and processes for forecasting. Changing a sequential “do and review” method to collaborative work between maintenance and logistics staff resulted in better parts availability.
	Revised stocking strategies enabling a 17% cut in distribution staff.
	Implemented new contracting strategies to assure operations that supplies and equipment would be readily available without a cumbersome procurement process.
	Centralized contract administration to facilitate better pricing and vendor performance.
	Created new ground rules for performance evaluations to establish new group norms to encourage more risk-taking in a risk-averse culture.

As Deputy Vice President, Contracts Department, at NYC Transit, Robin worked with a team of lawyers and engineers to revise the agency’s standard construction contract to encourage greater competition and better pricing. She also co-chaired an industry task force to develop a standard contract for bus purchases. Robin practiced law in the General Counsel’s Office at NYC Transit for seven years, with a specialty in contract negotiation and development.

She co-developed and taught “Reflective Practice: Learning from Work” at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. The course was designed to help graduate students understand individual, interpersonal, small group, and organizational dynamics. Students learned to how to understand their own workplace experience to improve their personal and organizational effectiveness.

She is the Director of the Applied Research Center of the William Alanson White Institute's Organization Program.

Robin serves as Project Neutral of the Disputes Resolution Board for a major public transportation provider and a key supplier. She is a member of two panels overseeing research funding through the Transit Cooperative Research Program of the National Academies: one for electronic business strategies for public transit and one regarding evaluation of the Design, Build, Operate and Maintain project delivery method.

She is a member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations and the American Public Transportation Association.

Robin Stevens enjoyed working at New York City Transit - in large measure because it is an ethnically and professionally diverse, complex organization that delivers a critical service for New Yorkers. She tries to keep up with the arts both in New York and wherever she travels. She has traveled extensively in the US and Europe and in 2001, spent seven fascinating months back-packing in Africa and Asia.

Education
B.A., History, University of Maryland, Heidelberg, Germany
J.D., Hofstra University School of Law, Hempstead, New York
Certificate, Organizational Development and Consultation, William Alanson White Institute, New York, New York
Advanced Organizational Consultancy (candidate), The Tavistock Institute, London , UK