Biography

Dr. Christina Robinson currently serves as the Executive Director of Adult Education and Literacy Programs for the Houston Community College System. In her role, she oversees the largest grant funded adult education program in the state of Texas with more than 10,000 students, 200 faculty partners and over 5M in grant funding. In 2018, Robinson oversaw the re-branding of HCC Adult Education with the Change your Life for $20 Campaign and most recently Robinson spearheaded Career4U Academy which has transported HCC Adult Education Workforce programs to the forefront.  Prior to her role at HCC, Robinson served as the Chief Strategist for Innovation & Research at Lone Star College–University Park. One of Robinson’s primary objectives was leading the expansion of innovative ideas and projects across the system and engaging cross-collaborative teams in driving revenue and strategic outcomes. Dr. Robinson directed the Bill and Melinda Gates Integrated Planning and Advising Systems grant for the college among many other large-scale initiatives. Dr. Robinson was instrumental in development and launch of the Education and Career Positioning System a patent-pending technology that won the 2015 STAR award from the state of Texas and became a 2016 Bellwether finalist for Innovation in Planning and Governance. Robinson was recognized for her leadership engineering the Texas Open Innovation Conference, an avenue to link industry and academia to fast-track innovative partnerships. 

Robinson, an accomplished leader, and champion of higher learning has been recognized for her leadership both locally and nationally. She was honored as the 2013 top 30 Most Influential Women in Houston by D-Mars magazine and Top Ten Most Influential Women in 2010 by Houston Woman magazine. Notably she was selected Top Ten Business Woman in the country in 2008 by the American Business Women’s Association.  In 2008, she was presented with the Woman of Excellence award, a lifetime achievement honor by the Federation of Houston Professional Women and was selected 2011 Cambridge Who’s Who Education VIP. 

In 2008, Robinson co-authored a book for women called The Power of Ten: Extraordinary stories of Top Ten Business Women.  This book is featured on Amazon.com. Robinson, a proponent of literacy in K-12, also launched a national literacy program called Read.Play.Win!.  Her innovative ideas were adopted by the Houston Rockets and in partnership launched a career book for children, which became an NBA league national best practice.

Prior to LSC, Robinson served as Territory Vice President for the Gulf Coast for the Apollo Group. Under her leadership, the Houston online and campuses grew 650% over three years.  Dr. Robinson received the 2008-2011 Alfred P. Sloan Award from the City of Houston for Workplace Flexibility and Innovation and the Best Places to Work honor in 2009-2011 from the Houston Business Journal.  Her commitment to further educating the community was recognized landing her the 2010 Good Neighbor Award for Spring Branch ISD and 2011 Houston A+ Challenge Award - Raising Expectations and Student Achievement in Houston public schools. 

Today, Robinson is well-established in the local community.  She serves on the 2019 Top 30 Most Influential Women in Houston Co-Chair, 2018 American Heart Association Leadership Team and served as the 2017 Circle of Red Chair, a leading group of women and men passionate about furthering heart and stroke education in the community.   Dr. Robinson serves on numerous educational boards such as Affordable College, YPD, Live it Out, UPEN, ABWA- Women Empowering Women Express Network, as well as the Taskforce for the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), Greater Houston Partnership Education Committee and more.

Robinson earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Texas A&M University and a Master’s of Arts in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. She is a 2015 graduate from Leadership North Houston and completed her doctorate in Community College Leadership from The Roueche Graduate Center at National American University with a dissertation on, “What Can Higher Education Learn from Healthcare Innovation?”