Robertson Work is a nonfiction author, ecosystem/justice activist, founder of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative (C3), and member of the Great Transition Network. He has published five books and contributed to thirteen others. He was UNDP principal policy adviser on decentralized governance and deputy director of the democratic governance division, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service professor of innovative leadership, and Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) national and regional director conducting organizational, leadership, and community initiatives. He has worked in over fifty countries for over fifty years, and now lives in Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA.
For ten years, he was a UN consultant, public speaker, New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service adjunct professor of innovative leadership, a Fulbright Senior Specialist assisting universities overseas, and a Fellow of the NYU Wagner Research Center for Leadership in Action.
Previously, Mr. Work was UNDP's principal policy adviser of decentralized governance for sixteen years at UN headquarters in New York. While with UNDP he designed and coordinated the Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment (LIFE) operating in twenty countries and another global program, Decentralizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through Innovative Leadership (DMIL). He also coordinated a global community of practice on decentralized governance, provided policy advice to countries worldwide, conducted research, and prepared global policy papers.
Prior to UNDP, he served in Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Jamaica, USA and Venezuela for twenty-one years as country and regional director with the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), an international NGO with UN Eco Soc Consultative status. His work of human development in fifty-five countries has consisted of the design and implementation of research, training and demonstration projects in leadership, organizational and community development, rural and urban development, NGO and project management, policy formulation and advice and group facilitation.
Mr. Work has written widely on decentralization and local governance, urban and rural development, poverty eradication and environmental improvement, the role of civil society in governance and development, capacity development, and participatory methods. His recent books include a manifesto/handbook, autobiography, poetry, speeches, and essays. In addition to NYU Wagner, he has taught at the University of the West Indies, Antioch University Graduate School of Whole System Design, the ICA Global Academy, and the Social Artistry School. He conducted his graduate studies at Indiana University and Chicago Theological Seminary and undergraduate studies at Oklahoma State University, which honored him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003. He and his wife live near family and friends in the Swannanoa Watershed of western North Carolina.
