Robin Leeds

Robin Leeds is the CEO of Winning Strategies LLC, a public affairs and communications consulting firm based in Washington, DC which was a Strategic Partner to Burson Cohn & Wolfe, a leading global public relations firm. She is a Partner at Democracy Partners and provides a wide range of services including multi-cultural and crisis communications, public policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, coalition building, diversity, equity and inclusion programming, donor advising and corporate social responsibility counsel.

Leeds is a civic and cultural leader who works at the intersection of social change and the arts. She serves on the President’s Advisory Commission on the Arts (PACA), where she led the successful launch of the first-ever social impact endowment fund at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts. Leeds served as an Advisory Board Member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and has represented the Creative Coalition at numerous Democratic National Conventions. Leeds also partnered with the Congressional Black Caucus and Emmy award winning actor Giancarlo Esposito to produce a national cultural program during the Inauguration of President Obama.

Winning Strategies offers clients over four decades of experience working at the intersection of politics, policy and communications. From the campaign trail to the boardroom, Leeds has built sustained relationships with changemakers across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Her extensive network and political know-how make her the ideal advisor for organizations and individuals aiming to forge diverse partnerships and strengthen their reputations among key stakeholders.

Centrally involved in every presidential cycle since 1984, in 2024 Leeds served on the Harris Victory Fund National Finance Committee and Women for Harris Kitchen Cabinet. In 2020 Leeds served on the Biden for President Women’s Outreach and Policy Team and the DNC Voter Protection Program.

Leeds has devoted her career to expanding access to economic and social opportunities for all Americans and is a powerful voice for women, people of color, the LGBTQIA community, and other underrepresented groups. Leeds has a stellar record in the private sector, successfully guiding companies through public crises by crafting creative communications and stakeholder engagement initiatives.

A seasoned multicultural and crisis communications strategist professional, Leeds has led multi-sector efforts to address complex race and gender challenges. She has brought her subject matter expertise and deep bench of relationships with policy makers, advocates and the media to address sexual violence and gender and race based harassment and inequality for numerous organizations including Times Up Legal Defense Fund, National Women’s Law Center, National Association of Attorneys General, Princeton University, Georgetown University, University of Rochester, and the City of Charlotte.

Winning Strategies advised the Barilla Group repairing its reputation with the LGBTQIA community. Due to these efforts, Barilla was awarded a perfect Corporate Equality Index score by the Human Rights Campaign, became a Catalyst Award winner for global inclusion and was the first Italian company to support the UN Standards of Conduct for Business Against LGBTQIA Discrimination in the Workplace.

While serving at the Clinton White House Office on Women’s Initiatives and Outreach, Leeds coordinated domestic and global constituency engagement efforts that shaped national public policy on fair pay, Title IX, voting rights, public health, domestic violence, and sexual harassment. As a Presidential appointee she led efforts that raised the national childhood immunization rate to 90% for the Child Immunization Initiative at the Department of Health and Human Services, directed the implementation of the National Voter Registration (Motor Voter) Act in the WIC, Food Stamps and AFDC programs at the Department of Agriculture, and spearheaded the public-private initiative that expanded youth training and employment for Youth Opportunity Movement at the Department of Labor.

Leeds has consistently fought to increase women’s participation in politics and government. Since 1984 she has played leadership roles in presidential, gubernatorial and congressional campaigns ensuring that a gender perspective and women’s vote strategy were fully integrated. During the 2004 presidential cycle, Leeds created a partnership with the National Council of Women’s Organizations, Lifetime Television, Lesley University, and Barnard College that created a national leadership academy for young women in politics during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. She was the National Co-Chair of Women for the Kerry for President campaign and served as a senior policy advisor on women during the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

As a board director for the National Council of Jewish Women, Vital Voices Global Ambassador in Puerto Rico (following Hurricane Maria), co-founder of Breast Care for Washington and board director of Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Health, Leeds has made a significant impact on improving the lives of women and families.

Leeds served as a member of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board, Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government Center for Public Leadership, Advisor to the Senior Director of Harvard University Women’s Initiatives, Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Leadership, Scholar-in-Residence at the Women in Politics Institute at American University, Appointee to the Governor Weld’s Commission on the Status of Women, and Visiting Scholar at the Council of Independent Colleges.

Leeds is widely regarded as a leading voting rights advocate and labor/community organizer. In Massachusetts, she served on the Secretary of State’s Voter Participation Partnership, as Director of Human SERVE (Human Services Employees Voter Registration and Education), campaign manager of the Voter Registration by Mail ballot initiative. She built the coalition that won the Prevailing Wage ballot fight for the Building Trades and AFL-CIO and led the effort that created and implemented the Boston Residents Jobs Policy (BRJP) mandating access to publicly funded construction jobs to residents, people of color and women.

Leeds has consistently championed progressive causes and has a demonstrated record of forging connections to create common agenda victories among diverse constituencies. Her success in managing multi-sector crises combined with a deep understanding of public policy and long standing relationships with key influencers, gives Robin and her clients an edge over the competition.