Creating Change
with Robin Bronk

Robin Bronk, CEO of The Creative Coalition, the nation’s leading bipartisan advocacy group discusses how the power of social proof paves the way for lasting change not only in the arts, but in society as a whole.

Recognizing the vast influence afforded to the entertainment industry, The Creative Coalition aims to use celebrity-based platforms for the advancement of the arts and positive social impact. Through strategic advocacy, education, and meaningful discussion, Robin explains how her organization pushes to pass legislation and increase federal funding to improve and expand the positive impact that the arts have on society and humanity through representation and action.

Meet our guest:

Robin Bronk is Chief Executive Officer of The Creative Coalition—the leading national, nonprofit, nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment industry. As CEO, Bronk is dedicated to educating, mobilizing, and activating the entertainment industry and arts community on issues of public importance, particularly the First Amendment, arts advocacy, arts in education, and media literacy. Since being appointed to the position in April 2010, she has exponentially grown The Creative Coalition’s operating budget by designing and instituting corporate sponsorship programs and cause marketing opportunities.

Bronk created the Spotlight Initiative, a division of The Creative Coalition that produces and supports films with messages important to the domestic and global agendas. Through The Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Initiative, Bronk has created partnerships with the leading independent film distributors and producers including HBO, Weinstein Company, Oscilloscope, Focus Features, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Paladin, Participant, Baltimore Films, Abramorama, Incognito, Original Media, Roadside Attractions, and ATO Pictures among others.

Under her leadership, The Creative Coalition signature programs include the New York Business Leader Task Force on Runaway Production, Moviemaker Mentors, Teachers Making a Difference, the Spotlight Awards, Stand Up For Class Mentors, Capitol Hill Leaders Advisory Council, The Creative Coalition’s Inaugural Ball, Reel Life Vs. Real Life Series, Seconding the First Dialogues, Parents Advisory Council for TV Watch, and Voices of Impact.

Bronk joined The Creative Coalition in July 1998 as the organization’s Executive Director and during her tenure has taken the nonprofit from a New York-based entity to a national organization.

She is an author and public speaker and most recently produced the feature film airing on Showtime, Poliwood, directed by Academy Award-winner Barry Levinson. She has also produced several award-winning Public Service Announcement campaigns. Bronk serves as spokesperson for The Creative Coalition and is a frequent speaker and communicator on the role of the entertainment industry in public advocacy campaigns. She has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, People, Boston Globe, The Washington Post; and has been a guest of “The O’Reilly Factor”, “Hardball”, “Scarborough Country”, as well as CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, PBS, New York 1 and other broadcast outlets as well as a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.

She was selected to be a participant in the 2010 and 2011 Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Conferences. She is the recipient of the 2011 Gracie Award for producing Watch What You
Watch, a PSA campaign for girls and body image. Bronk received the 2010 Artivist Award for her leadership in the arts and activism and the Honorary Trailblazer Award at the 2011 Woodstock Film Festival. She has edited two books, “Art & Soul” (Hearst Communications) and “If You Had Five Minutes With the President” (Harper Collins). Bronk also pens a weekly “Five Minutes…” column for The Hill newspaper. During the summer of 2011, Ms. Bronk began hosting a weekly segment on independent film for New York City’s leading radio station, WBAI-FM.

Bronk is a seasoned Capitol Hill strategist and advocate. She has represented The Creative Coalition at numerous Congressional Hearings, and represented the organization and its legislative agenda before Members of Congress and the White House.

Prior to her appointment, Bronk served as Vice President, Corporate Community Strategies, for APCO Worldwide, an independently owned global communication consultancy with offices in major cities throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Her clients included corporations, governments, industry associations and nonprofit organizations. Her areas of client services included corporate and internal communication; crisis management; issue management; government relations; media relations; coalition building; corporate social responsibility and online communication. She also served as the Director of Cause Celeb, an APCO division that matches celebrities and entertainment leaders with national causes and issues of importance.

Bronk played a leading role in APCO’s work with the MCI Foundation. As an on-loan executive, she served as the interim director of the foundation, managing its multi-million dollar philanthropic grant-making program. Besides MCI, Bronk’s clients also included the ASCAP Leiber & Stoller Music Scholarship Fund, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Geographic Society, the Recording Industry Association of America, National Council of Jewish Women and American Forest Foundation.

Prior to joining APCO, Bronk worked for ABC News, served as a program coordinator for a weekly education series that aired on C-SPAN and worked as a program instructor of the Close Up Foundation.

Bronk serves on the New York Cultural Task Force, is a board member of The White House Project, The Close Up Foundation, Carmel Art & Film Festival, Gold Coast International Film Festival and Young Playwrights Inc., and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and Women of Washington. She has won numerous awards and honors for her public affairs work.

Bronk received her Bachelor of Arts from the Pennsylvania State University.