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Robin Smalley
Co-founder, International Director

As mothers2mothers’ International Director and Co-founder, Robin is the program’s “keeper of the flame,” sharing our mission and vision globally.  Currently based in the U.S., she is responsible for both partnership and fund development, as well as U.S. government relations and media/PR efforts.  Joining mothers2mothers in 2004 as its first Executive Director, Robin and her family moved from Hollywood to Cape Town where she set up offices and staff and, together with Mitch Besser, guided the fledgling NGO into a period of rapid growth.  Managing m2m’s initial development, expanding its funding pool, and spreading the word about the importance of psychosocial support in PMTCT, in one year she grew the program from a few sites in Cape Town to 72 sites throughout South Africa, with affiliated programs in Ethiopia and Botswana.  In 2005 she returned to Los Angeles to foster the relationships that would support m2m’s future expansion.

Robin’s road to mothers2mothers was far from traditional.  A former award-winning television director/producer of shows including “Entertainment Tonight,” “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous,” “Hour Magazine,” “Home Show,” and “Leeza,” she made the transition to the world of non-profit management as Executive Director of The Media Project.  There she worked with television writers and directors in the area of adolescent sexuality and reproductive health, guiding a seven year period of increased visibility and success for the organization.  As the driving force behind the annual SHINE (Sexual Health in Entertainment) Awards, she also managed the implementation of Viacom’s KNOW/AIDS campaign in Los Angeles, and her contributions were recognized with a Telly Award, Cindy Award, National Health Information Award, National Council on Family Relations Award, and Society for Adolescent Medicine Award.

Robin retains membership in both the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America, and she serves on the Advisory Board of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) and the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA).