Madeline Robison

Mentorship Commitment Preference: Engage in a long-term mentorship (connect with your mentee throughout the semester, outside of LinkUp events — frequency and format are flexible)

Industry: Non-Profit

Employer: Northern Virginia Family Services

Job Title: Human Resources Director

Areas Madeline is interested in mentoring: 

• Work-life Balance
• Career Planning
• Leadership Growth
• Communication Skills
• Time Management
• Goal Setting and Motivation
• Graduate School Advice 

Bio: Madeline Robison is the Human Resources Director at Northern Virginia Family Services, joining originally as an HR Manager in November 2017. Madi enjoys managing employee benefits and wellbeing programs. Prior to joining NVFS, Madi worked in employee benefits for nearly five years and spent a majority of that time in the role of population health management director, developing customized wellness programs with employers she supported.  

As a champion of employee wellbeing, Madi enjoys facilitating NVFS’ internal Wellbeing Committee, a group of employees from across programs and departments. This group of well-being champions develops and communicates activities that will best support health and wellness across the agency.  

Madi earned her bachelor of arts degree in integrative studies from George Mason University and her master of arts in human resource management from Marymount University. She enjoys practicing and teaching yoga, hiking the great outdoors, and trying new activities with her husband and two daughters.

Describe how you got your first job. Considering where I loved to be, what I loved to do each day, and asking those in similar roles what steps they took to achieve the position they were in. Lots of informal conversations and networking enabled me to connect with the very first organizations I worked for. 

If you were starting your career today, what is the one piece of advice you would give yourself? Ask questions, no matter how small. People like to share the big stuff, and the small stuff; relationship building is what makes work not feel like work!

In what ways has your career path been unique or unconventional?  I didn't set out naming HR Director as the job title I was seeking so my path is unconventional in that I worked in other parts of organizations and in roles supporting human resources before arriving in this function. Yet, my unique path enabled me to have great work experiences and gain different perspectives that I may not have had with a more direct path.

Madeline is open to participating in informational interviews