Denver: We are going to do Take Five with Robin Steinberg, the CEO of the Bail Project.
Denver: What should we be worried about?
Robin Steinberg
Robin: We should be worried about the fact that women are the fastest-growing population in jails and prisons in our country.
Denver: What is one of your favorite documentaries or movies?
Robin: My husband’s documentary, Untouchable.
Denver: What is today’s most underreported story?
Robin: That women and girls are the fastest-growing population in jails and prisons across America.
Denver: What is something you believe that other people think is just insane?
Robin: I believe in the presumption of innocence and while we talk about being a nation that believes in the presumption of innocence and it’s a right that we are all afforded not a legal technicality, what I’m finding more and more is that underlying of the American psyche is that there isn’t actually a commitment to that principle.
Denver: What is the most favorite part of your morning ritual?
Robin: My first cup of coffee.
Denver: What is the most important thing that makes for a healthy organizational culture?
Robin: Inclusion and kindness.
Denver: What you have changed your mind about in the last 10 years and why?
Daniela: I’ve changed my mind about the idea that cash bail might create an incentive to come back to court.
Denver: If you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be?
Robin: A spoon.
Denver: What do you wish people are more open and honest about?
Robin: Everything.
Denver: If you were to start your career all over again and do something completely different and away from this field, what would that be?
Robin: I think I’d be a teacher.
Denver: What is your superpower?
Robin: My superpower is I can identify talent and bring them into my organization and have them make me look really brilliant.
Denver: If you could have one gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it, what would it say?
Robin: Freedom should be free.
Denver: What are you currently reading?
Robin: I’m currently reading the latest New Yorker.
Denver: What do you think about when you’re driving in the car alone?
Robin: I turn on music, and I try not to think at all. Driving alone is one of my favorite activities to get away from it all, and I just turn on the radio, and I sing out loud, and I don’t think about a thing.
Denver: What is something about you the very few other people know?
Robin: I love football, and I collect salt and pepper shakers.
Denver: What topic would you speak about if you were asked to give a Ted talk on something completely outside your main area of expertise?
Robin: I wouldn’t do a TED Talk. It was out of my area of expertise.
Denver: What is the best constructive criticism you have ever received?
Robin: To listen to what millennials have to say about changes in the work culture that need to happen and what the world should look like moving forward. I know there are favorite people to kick around but they have some really, really good ideas, and they’re really willing to challenge those of us in baby boomer generation, and I have learned an enormous amount from them.
Denver: What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?
Robin: Follow your heart. Follow your dreams. Be courageous. Take risks.