Barbie Robinson ’87

Barbie Robinson brings over 27 years of experience in the fields of health care administration, policy, and research, and is currently the Executive Director for Harris County Public Health—the third largest County in the nation—including the City of Houston, Texas.
Throughout her career, Robinson has been recognized for leading collaborative efforts to address health disparities, as well as community health improvement, and health equity. Before her move to Harris County in May 2021, she served as Director of Sonoma County Department of Health Services (DHS) for five years while concurrently serving as the Interim Executive Director of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission in California for over a year.

Robinson’s leadership was instrumental in the formation of Sonoma County’s ACCESS Initiative, a nationally and internationally-awarded care coordination model that helps vulnerable individuals achieve self-sufficiency and well-being. While at DHS, she prioritized the Department’s emergency preparedness efforts, led the County’s COVID-19 emergency response, and oversaw the emergency responses during the County’s wildfires in 2017, 2019 and 2020. She also led the County’s emergency response to address the County’s largest homeless encampment in 2020.
Prior to her executive experience at the local level, Robinson spent 15 years working for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) overseeing the administration of Federal healthcare programs including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Medicare Fee-for-Service program.
During her time at CMS, Robinson held numerous leadership positions, including Associate Regional Administrator (ARA) of the San Francisco and Atlanta Regional Offices Division of Financial Management & Fee-for-Service Operations her leadership earning her the Administrator’s Achievement Award in 2014.

Robinson earned her Bachelor of Arts with a triple major (Political Science, Spanish, and International Sociology) from Middlebury College, her Master of Public Policy, Health and Social Policy from Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and her Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School.