Robin Mallison Alpern

Robin Mallison Alpern is a white cisgender woman raised in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). She has a lifelong concern for racial justice and equity. She works with anti-racism organizations in her home community and among Quakers, including cross-racial groups and white caucus groups. Her anti-racist vision and practice have been informed and shaped by a multitude of mentors and leaders, both white and of color. 

As Director of Training at CSWAC, Robin co-designed and co-leads a series of anti-racist workshops. Robin’s focus is on engaging white people in work for racial justice and equity. She couples compassion for white people’s humanity with an invitation to accountability and commitment to a life of anti-racist activism. 

Areas of expertise include: countering white fragility with resilience; accountability and co-conspiracy; white women as architects of white supremacy; raising anti-racist children; replacing colorblindness with race consciousness; and costs of systemic racism for white people. 

Robin has co-presented workshops at the annual White Privilege Conference and has been a guest speaker at events and on podcasts. She was recruited by professors at Vassar College to help develop and teach an off-campus class for educators on How to Talk About Race with children. Her chapter about her anti-racist work with white women is published in RISE for Racial Justice: How to Talk About Race with Schools and Communities. 

Robin has raised four anti-racist white children who teach her every day how to make the world a better place to live.