Robin R. Taylor
2021
Robin Taylor joined Lawyers Without Borders as Executive Director in September 2020. Prior to this, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (federal prosecutor) for the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) for more than 20 years. She worked internationally as the USDOJ advisor to the U.S. European Command a military base in Stuttgart, Germany as part of a 15-member U.S. interagency team (with FBI, Treasury, Energy, State, DHS and others) advising the Commander and leadership on transnational threats, terrorism, foreign influence, illicit finance, cyberspace challenges, and security issues from 2016-2020. Before that, she was the resident legal advisor to the U.S. Embassies in Jakarta (2014-16) and Kenya (2011-2014) leading efforts to strengthen rule of law frameworks and case development to combat terrorism, violent extremism, financial crime and money laundering, cybercrime, bribery, wildlife crime, and human trafficking. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of California, Ms. Taylor investigated and prosecuted international cyber and fraud crimes, organized crime, money laundering, copyright and trademark infringement, public corruption, and other offenses, handling numerous jury trials to verdict. She established the District’s first cybercrime unit in 2005.
Ms. Taylor has organized events and served as a speaker for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USDOJ’s National Advocacy Center, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, European Commission, Eurojust, Global Counterterrorism Form, Defeat ISIS Working Group, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, U.S. Department of State, and Cambridge University, among others. Ms. Taylor co-founded “Operation Protect & Defend,” a nationally recognized civil education program, with the Hon. Frank C. Damrell, US District Court Judge; served as a Judicial Applicant Evaluator for the State Bar of California; was the President, Vice President, Treasurer, of Sacramento’s Federal Bar Association, and was a Master of the Bench for the Milton L. Schwartz/David F. Levi Inn of Court. Ms. Taylor started her legal career as litigator at Downey, Brand as an associate after a summer clerkship with the firm.
The catalytic power of this Summit in bringing together those who are devoting their lives to pushing back and working to confront, understand and work towards solutions around hate in our society is a noble and difficult task. The Summit not only energized those who attended but led to connecting the dots in a global network of those doing this work. The stories of the victims of hate were painful to witness but their courage in coming forward was inspirational. Those who attended left energized with the hope that by working together solutions can be forged.
