Sharon Robinson

Sharon Robinson captivated readers with her memoir Stealing Home, her recounting of growing up in the public eye, and Jackie's Nine, a book for young readers about the nine heartfelt, hard-won values that helped her father, Jackie Robinson, achieve his goals. Her photographic biography for children, Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America received rave reviews. Her fiction novels include Safe At Home and Slam Dunk!

Her first picture book, Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson honors her extraordinary father's memory with her warm, graceful storytelling and illustrations by two-time Caldecott Honor Book artist, Kadir Nelson.

In her latest novel, The Hero Two Doors Down (Scholastic; February 2016), she tells the story of Steven Satlow, a young Dodgers fan in the 1940s, who befriended the great Jackie Robinson after his family moved to Satlow’s all-Jewish neighborhood.

In addition to her writing career, Ms. Robinson is an educational consultant for Major League Baseball. In this capacity, she oversees school and community-based educational programs. Breaking Barriers, In Sports, In Life is the department's core program; it is a national character education program designed to empower students with strategies to help them face obstacles in their lives. The message is delivered by examining the values demonstrated in the lives of Jackie Robinson and many of today's baseball stars. Since its inception in 1997, the program has reached over fourteen million children across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Prior to joining Major League Baseball, Ms. Robinson had a 20-year career as a nurse-midwife and educator. She taught at such prestigious universities as Yale, Columbia, Howard and Georgetown. In addition to her work in midwifery, she directed the PUSH for Excellence program founded by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson from 1985 to 1990 and was a fund-raiser for The United Negro College Fund and A Better Chance.

Ms. Robinson is Vice Chairman of the Jackie Robinson Foundation and serves on the boards for the Roberto Clemente Sports City Complex in Carolina, PR, Metropolitan Opera, Urban America, and Omnicom Diversity Committee.

Sharon Robinson received her Bachelor's degree from Howard University in 1973 and her Master's degree from Columbia University in 1976. She went on to receive a post-Master's Certificate in Teaching from the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Robinson has honorary degrees from Medaille College (1998), Dowling College (2004), and Monmouth College (2005).