Robert Feldstein

About Robert Feldstein

I have over 25 years experience working with a range of diverse stakeholders, tackling complex problems, and finding innovative solutions at the local, state, and national level. I love make progress on seemingly intractable issues by building coalitions and setting up and coaching teams to look for quick wins while being in it for the long game. My strengths include being able to see people eye-to-eye, learning difficult issues quickly, working with diverse – and opposing – stakeholders, and keeping a team enlivened, enlightened, and running smoothly. A few highlights: • In Brooklyn, I rose from Junior Planner to Project Manager of the Red Hook Community Justice Center - an award winning model of community justice with 80 staff from 15 on-site private and public partners – as I helped plan, open, operate, and evolve the project – involved in everything from IT systems to building construction to community organizing to redesigning the court processes. • Working for Mayor Mike Bloomberg in New York City, I helped launch, build, and lead national coalitions on gun safety, immigration, and infrastructure. I worked with mayors, CEOs, advocates, local leaders and diverse stakeholders from across the country to change the conversation and advance sensible policies. • In Seattle, as the Director of the Mayor\'s Office of Policy & Innovation, I helped research, lead, and resolve citywide negotiations over minimum wage, development and affordable housing that drew local and national coverage. Leading a team of subject matter experts, I tackled issues across the city from transportation to labor law to utilities to education resulting in a raft of successful levies, policy changes, legislation, and budget items. • As a Principal and Partner at Cedar River Group, I recruited clients and delivered on-time, on-budget projects in a variety of capacities (e.g, facilitation, policy development, and strategic planning) across a variety of subject, including affordable housing, public safety, economic development and workforce readiness, early learning and child-care, civil litigation, outdoor recreation, and more. Outcomes have included 3-to-5-year strategic plans, proposals later adopted in city, county, and state budgets, changes in policy, and new agreements or collaborations between multiple partners. After seven years consulting, I want to be part of a larger team again, so looking for a fast-paced environment, where I can collaborate with top-quality colleagues working on meaningful projects to solve interesting challenges.

Experience

1. Executive Director

   Sound Cities Association

   Feb 2025 — Present

Education

• Stanford University

  MA, Education

  2004 — 2005