Founder: E. Geronimo Robinson Mr. Robinson is a Harvard University trained educator and clinician who has managed mental health agencies and residential programs for various local and municipal localities in the Washington DC metro area for the past 25 years. In his last government position, Mr. Robinson served as Director of the City of Alexandria Residential Programs. For 3 years, Geronimo Robinson directed the residential programs for the City of Alexandria composed of adults with serious mental illnesses, developmental disabilities including intellectual disabilities (mental retardation) and substance abuse disorders. As a City of Alexandria government employee, he was responsible for managing 66 residential programs and managed an $11 million budget.
Mr. Robinson also co-owns two other companies. Mr. Robinson is the founder of For Those in Need Inc., a non profit that will take over clinical oversight of the orphan projects in Botswana and South Africa, begun by I & I Inc. Mr. Robinson is also a principal investor with Total Sensory Wellness Inc., a Spa and Wellness Center based in Waldorf, Maryland. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Robinson was the principal financial partner and co-owner of a mental health agency called Someone Cares Counseling Services, based in Southeastern Georgia. This company served children and adolescents with mental health and substance abuse issues and provides in - home clinical services to individuals in 31 counties in the southeastern region of that state.
Issac and Imani Inc.'s main goal is to create and manage programs that serve children and adults with special needs both in the US and developing countries. One objective of I & I Inc. will be to assist Southern African countries in making infrastructure changes to their social service delivery systems that will rehabilitate and serve OVC in underserved communities without over-burdening their fiscal integrity.
Mr. Robinson has authored several articles in the disabilities field and served for 8 years as a consulting editor for Mental Retardation, one of the two more highly regarded disability journals in the US and Europe. Mr. Robinson has had his articles republished in the Maisons des Sciences de L'Homme, Le Portal du Reseau in 2005, and the Disability Studies Quarterly published by the Society for Disability Studies in the spring of 2003. One of his articles was also included in a list of Bibliographies on the Cultural Aspects of Disability, published by the Samuel Gridley Howe Library.
Mr. Robinson has spoken at numerous conferences in the US and abroad and has lead delegations of US elected officials and scholars to speak at international conferences in the Middle East and the South of France. In April 2000, Mr. Robinson was the keynote speaker at the Cypriot Association on Special Education International Conference in Nicosia, Cyprus. The delegation that accompanied Mr. Robinson conducted workshops and trainings for 2 days at the University of Cyprus and were the first Americans invited to lecture at this CASE Conference in the Middle East. In June 2001, Mr. Robinson was a keynote speaker at the National Mental Health Association Conference in Washington, DC.
Mr. Robinson served as peer reviewer for 2 years with the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and participated in a planning process to create a Long Range Plan under taken by NIDRR in 1995 to meet the needs of the disability community and advance scientific knowledge in the US. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Robinson served as a member of the Northern Virginia Regional Partnership Planning Project MR/MI Workgroup.
Mr. Robinson received an undergraduate degree in classical music from the University of Virginia, a masters degree in special education from the University of Virginia, and a post masters certificate of advanced study in education and counseling from Harvard University. While a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Mr. Robinson served as Interim President of the Black Student Union and also served as Vice President of the Student Association Committee for one year. Mr. Robinson was invited to speak twice between 1994 and 1997 at the Harvard Club, headquartered at the National Press Club Building in Washington, DC. Mr. Robinson discussed his career as a leader in the disabilities field and an advocate for children and families from underserved communities. In the spring of 2001, Mr. Robinson hosted a Harvard Career Day in collaboration with the United Negro College fund and several mental health and social service agencies representing various Northern Virginia and Maryland suburban jurisdictions. Students who had recently graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the mental health field were recruited by MH agencies that were attempting to fill various entry level positions.
