Robinson began her career with the Social Security Administration before earning a Masters of Science from Johns Hopkins University and a JD from Seattle University School of Law. She later co-founded ADR Options Consulting, Inc., focusing on early dispute resolution, before joining MIT as an Ombuds. Known for her compassion and accessibility, she advised students, staff, and faculty on complex concerns and was an advocate for underserved communities throughout her life. She was widely respected in the Ombuds profession and was honored with the IOA Distinguished Emeriti Award in 2018. (Endswell.)
Toni had a big presence in the ombuds community and was a force of nature. She was outgoing, welcoming and direct. She took pride in greeting everyone she encountered and dedicated herself to helping people. I was so sad to learn of her passing.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a loss! I am so sad. Toni was a force of nature and a loving, principled, forthright person. I learned so much from her and cherish my time working and learning with and from her. Ruthy Kohorn Rosenberg. (Can’t figure out how to not be anonymous.)
ReplyDeleteToni was simply the best as an ombuds and an even better person. As a mentor, she exhibited compassion and integrity. Her impact to our profession was significant and valued. To have known Toni personally was a blessing.
ReplyDeleteHere is Mary Rowe's nomination of Toni for the Collier Medal in 2017 [in 3 parts]:
ReplyDeleteI would like to nominate Toni Robinson for the Collier Medal.
I see her as one whose contributions to MIT—since 1998—have regularly exceeded the boundaries of her profession. This has happened in ways that few people know; she is indeed an “unsung hero.” Toni has contributed to building hundreds of individual and "group" bridges across the MIT community. She performs small acts of kindness every day—quietly, frequently anonymously, consistently and selflessly. I will try to illustrate each point.
Very few people know much about what an organizational ombudsperson does. Ombuds offer near absolute confidentiality, so many people do not “see” the work. The day to day work is one of private service, person to person, as people bring in problems they see as delicate and agonizing.
I could not ethically ask for letters of support from the thousands of constituents who have called upon the ombuds office these last seventeen years. (Indeed some of our constituents were anonymous.) I could not seek letters from people in the MIT community who needed and found kindness and respect, as well as “conflict competence,” from Toni Robinson, as part of her job. However, this problem does not exist for the Collier Medal. This is because professional ombuds service would still be work “within the boundaries of the profession.”
Toni Robinson’s sphere of care greatly “exceeds the boundaries of her profession,” though this is not widely known. She reaches outside her office in ways that are invisible to most of MIT.
Let me illustrate with an example from the cutbacks and reorganizations of recent years. When MIT has gone though reorganization and layoffs, the ombuds office has seen dozens of people who are afraid of layoff, or have actually been laid off. In these circumstances an ombudsperson can offer encouragement to look forward, to improve a resume, to understand all the various forms of help from MIT.
However, in addition, during the past six years, Toni worked one by one to help people make specific contacts inside and outside MIT and to set up informational interviews. She helped prepare people for the future, with realism—and with personalized support. More than forty individuals, of those laid off (2009–2014), told the ombuds office that this outreach support had been helpful to their finding another job.
Let me offer more examples that most people would not know. Toni immediately volunteered for the Biomatrix program when she first heard that HST was looking for mentors for students considering various professional careers. Over the years, Toni has lent an ear and helping hand to many students considering careers in the law. For many years, Toni volunteered for Commencement, working with guests with disabilities. Toni is an active volunteer with the MIT Black History Project. She has had a particular concern for returning veterans.
Toni brightens many conversations; she is witty and inclusive and full of energy when she speaks in public. Toni is deeply loyal to the people of MIT, one by one, and as a whole. She does not give up if someone faces serious problems. Toni works on a sustained basis to find some kind of remedy for painful situations—outside the office as well as inside. Her optimism, compassion, empathy and wry sense of humor help to buffer the sharp edges of life for many people in the MIT community, outside the office as well as inside.
Toni sees life here with realism, as well as compassion, and merges compassion with realism. People have to do their homework, working with Toni. She does not “solve” anyone’s problems. But, for someone willing to make an effort, Toni helps a person to prepare well for their next step, and, as well, helps that person to find additional resources.
[Part 2 of 3]
ReplyDeleteShe works to build bridges outside the office as well as inside. Toni is in contact, every year, with dozens of groups and hundreds of persons at MIT. Many of these contacts are with individuals and groups who come to the office to develop new options for themselves. In addition, Toni builds relationships with MIT people traveling on the commuter rail, getting coffee at Stata, crossing the campus, in affinity groups, on student retreats, in living groups, in DLCs, with the wg. She knows and is greeted by workers across the shifts of MIT workers. Some of her contacts are by phone, as when an MIT person refers another to Toni, "just to talk on the phone for a few minutes." Toni makes contacts also from home, as when she calls someone back over the weekend.
Toni's professional contacts mirror the geography—and demographics—and different faiths in the MIT community. Toni belongs to the entire Institute; by profession an ombudsperson is supposed to be available to the entire community. But in practice, Toni goes far beyond "being available," reaching out to all cohorts, and to persons of all ages and colors and jobs in ways that are not widely recognized.
When Toni came in 1998, she began by greeting many of the people she passed in the halls. "How are you doing?" she would ask, of people, old and young, tall and short. (Toni is not super tall but she meets the eyes of everyone.)
She greeted aged professors, warmly and with interest: "How are you today?" She would go over to a person who seemed lost. She introduced herself if a student was hunched in a corner. She would greet every person of color—and also everyone else—men and women, students in uniform, professors in suits, students in shorts…..and sometimes, before morning classes, the occasional student in pajamas, (or something that maybe looked like pajamas).
She got out of the office. She would cross the campus, go out to Lincoln Lab, go to the dorms, use the tunnels, building relationships all over MIT. She invited students who seemed lonely to come to the office for Girl Scout cookies. (Every year she buys and freezes masses of cookies to offer to people in the office, along with distinctive peppermints.)
Over nearly seventeen years she will have been called by—and spoken at length with—perhaps a thousand people a year from the MIT community. Over nearly seventeen years she has been invited—or has reached out—to meet with groups, or teach, or facilitate meetings—somewhere between 800 and 1000 times. On many days the meetings include DLC managers, senior officers and faculty. On many days meetings also include staff and students—service staff, support staff, research staff, administrative staff, post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduates. On some days the calls are from worried parents or recent alums, or alumni groups.
Many people of color at MIT have met Toni. Many people of all colors at MIT have met Toni. People of all colors hear of her, by word of mouth, and seek her out if somehow they have a concern or find themselves in conflict. Toni has some “special empathies”—for those with disabilities, LBGTQ, those with acute family concerns, veterans, international students and staff. People who have been helped let others know that she cares.
Toni worked for more than a decade to bring together people of different ethnic and national backgrounds who did not know each other. She would often invite a disparate group to lunch just to talk and share wisdom and support. In this way she helped, year by year, to lay the ground work for MIT’s new Employee Resource Groups that provide mutual support and networking. Toni has worked, since she came to MIT, to build bridges and connections amongst those with common interests—and also between such groups and relevant managers.
[Part 3 of 3]
ReplyDeleteShe also builds bridges from MIT to individuals. Here is an example:
In her first months Toni collected and studied a number of MIT policies from many sources. They were assembled into a binder. (Some policies agreed with each other; some were less well aligned or less clear. She reasoned that if the policies in the binder were inconsistent a senior manager might see them together and be able to address the inconsistency. If policies were unclear they could be improved over time. And it was useful to have the policies in one place.)
The Ombuds office had been instructed, from the very beginning, to offer universal outreach to DLC heads. Toni's first Provost explicitly reaffirmed this instruction, instructing the Ombuds to greet new DLC supervisors and provide useful information about resources at MIT. One of Toni's ideas was to pull her collection of MIT policies into a booklet for all new DLC heads, and to share the booklet with each one. Her next idea, following soon after, was to collect several pages of MIT resources for dealing with complaints and concerns—for the use of everyone at MIT. These resources are in the Ombuds website SELF-HELP section. They are widely used.
Toni is kind and respectful and generous. Outside of the office, she looks out for other people. She will cheerily encourage someone who is crossing Mass Ave against the light to look both ways. She will gently nudge an ill-clad student or staff member to look for a coat or hat if the weather has gotten cold. She will gently urge a sick colleague at a meeting to take care or maybe call Medical.
Many of Toni's cases involve questions, concerns, or conflicts she has seen hundreds of times. However, to her each person is new and interesting. Day by day, throughout the day, she treats everyone, seemingly tirelessly, with the same warm welcome and respect. She does not lose focus, even when she is under the weather or exhausted. She brings the same warm interest to casual meetings all across the campus.
Toni has been grounded in principle and law and policy since the day she arrived almost seventeen years ago. Occasionally her constituents bring in clear evidence of unacceptable behavior by a powerful person. Toni is respectful of rank and status in the same way that she finds everyone worthy of respect. She also believes that no one should be allowed to behave in a way that is egregiously above the law or policy; she seeks a fair process from—and for—people of every status.
Toni is quietly very generous. She gives dozens of presents, anonymously, to children each year, and participates in clothing drives, gift-giving and small collections for those with a special need. Most importantly, Toni gives of her time, very early and late at night, for most weeks in every year, regularly returning calls on a weekend or from a rare trip away. Some of these will be return calls on cases.
Many conversations will be just to listen to someone…. And many, joyous conversations will be to celebrate good news. Her warmth and her humor and her caring mean that people love to bring her good news. Rejoicing when someone does well is a special part of her life.
Toni Robinson practices the values that the Collier Medal represents: service beyond the boundaries of her profession, building bridges, consistently providing kindness, compassion, respect, and a listening ear to every person she meets at MIT. I am very happy to nominate Toni Robinson for the Collier Medal.
Thank you for sharing this, Mary did an excellent job of capturing Toni’s contributions and persona - it’s a blueprint for all ombuds to aspire to!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to learn of Toni's passing and am reminded about her kindness and spirit. I looked forward to seeing Toni when our paths crossed at North Station in Boston since we both traveled by train from the North Shore. We'd catch about all things ombuds and I'll always remember her radiant smile and personality. Spending time with Toni was like standing in the sun. She will be missed.
ReplyDeleteI am so sad to hear of Toni’s passing. She was my Ombuddy to hang out with at IOA conferences, to call when there was a need to talk, or chuckle about stuff . As others have noted, she radiated goodwill, was always helpful and went out of her way to help . Rest in Peace my friend.
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice to read these wonderful comments about Toni. She truly was a wonderful Ombuds and person. I will always appreciate my interactions with her and the many things I learned from her. Being an Ombuds has many rewards, and Ombuds colleagues like Toni top the list!
ReplyDeleteI am also very sad to read the news about Toni's passing. I am forever grateful for all her guidance, encouragement, friendship and the laughter we shared together. Wishing her family and all of us in grief - all the strengths we need to endure this pain. Her spirit lives on in all of our hearts.
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