Robin launched The Callahan Collaborative in 2022 as the next step in her calling to make the world more equitable and just for all. For more than 25 years she has been in nonprofit leadership, serving in a variety of staff and volunteer roles which have provided her with unique insights, empathy for the challenges faced by other nonprofit leaders, and a wide array of tools and resources to help nonprofits and their leaders thrive.
She grew up on a farm in Minnesota, shoveling a lot of snow (and other things). Today, she considers herself most fortunate to live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, even December - June when it rains almost every day. She and her husband have three sons who live in the Seattle area with their families.
In her free time, she enjoys paddling with the Gig Harbor Dragons and volunteering in her community. She is the President-Elect of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor.
As Vice President of Philanthropic Services for the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, she led a team focused on increasing philanthropic impact through planned giving, family philanthropy, and working with nonprofits to establish or grow their endowments. She led the 2020 Transfer of Wealth study for Pierce County, cementing her belief in and commitment to helping other nonprofits develop a strong planned giving program.
She was the Executive Director of the National Schools Foundation Association (now the National Association of Education Foundations), an organization dedicated to ensuring that students in K-12 education have equitable access to educational opportunities. A national leader in this nonprofit sector, Robin led the development of tools and resources to strengthen education foundations including co-chairing a National Standards Task Force to develop the first national standards for education foundations, an on-demand Board Training Program, the National Industry Leadership Council, and NSFA’s National Superintendent of the Year Award to inspire superintendent nationally to achieve the highest standards of vision, community engagement and foundation partnership. To better understand the challenges and opportunities member organizations were experiencing, she facilitated board and staff retreats, coached boards and executive directors and presented workshops nationally and regionally on governance and resource development issues.
Callahan served as the Executive Director of the Issaquah Schools Foundation (WA) for 16 years. Beginning as a board member of an all-volunteer board in 1998, Robin worked collaboratively with her staff, board, and district to create a culture of philanthropy in which the entire community values and invests in public education. Under her leadership, the foundation grew from one employee and one program to annual contributed revenue of over $1.8 mil. which funded numerous programs including the VOICE Mentor Program, Cultural Bridges, Pre-K Summer School, STEM Initiatives, and a Healthy Youth Initiative (focused on mental health, drug, and alcohol prevention, and basic student needs).