Robin Rich, NPL’08

Robin Rich (she/her) is a C-level leader with 20 years’ experience in mental health, education, and working with Gen Z. Most recently, Robin was the president of the Youth Innovation Lab at Peer Health Exchange (PHE). In response to the youth mental health crisis, she led the organization to build a digital mental health product (selfsea) for youth, which quickly reached approximately 200K users, with 76% of them reporting a decrease in loneliness. As the lab’s co-founder, she ran it as a separate business from PHE, overseeing an $8 million budget, securing more than $1.35 million of funding in nine months, and consistently exceeding the growth, culture, and operational goals under the guidance of the board.

Previously, Robin led PHE in COO-scoped roles for six years, building out multiple teams and functions. She grew PHE’s school-based reach from 7 to 15 cities, established partnerships with TikTok, Brightline, and Headspace, and delivered groundbreaking adolescent mental health content on TikTok during the pandemic.

Robin holds a Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership from Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice, where she was awarded the inaugural Dean’s Emerging Leader Award for “demonstrating excellence in collaboration, motivation, community building, integrity, innovation, and leadership while exhibiting significant growth.” She has a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College and is an alum of The Leadership Consortium program. She was a ranking member of the boards of Casa Myrna and Women Helping Women, served as an executive advisor to Cloverleaf and Cintrifuse, owned a wine store, and coached youth soccer teams.

“From the second I stepped under the leafy canopy of Locust Walk and met the folks building the Nonprofit Leadership Program, I knew Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice was for me. The program was so unique in its focus on transformational leadership and how to help me become the very best leader I could to make change in the world. The course offerings across the entire Penn campus, coupled with the practicum in the community, were truly unparalleled. And after completing the program, all these years later, it is still one of the most formative experiences of my life.”