<p>The most senior military woman ever to serve in the U.S. Department of Defense, four-star General Lori Robinson speaks on leadership, overcoming obstacles, and the most pressing U.S. national security issues today.</p><p>General Lori Robinson was the first woman to be nominated and confirmed as a combatant commander. She retired in 2018 having served as Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Commander, U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM). In that role, she led the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilians from the U.S. and Canada responsible for homeland defense. Reporting to the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada, she was also responsible for early warning and engagement of air and space threats to the United States and Canada, including ballistic missile threats from North Korea.</p><p>Prior to her command of NORAD and U.S. NORTHCOM, General Robinson was the first woman to command multiple and diverse combat forces as the Commander, United States Pacific Air Forces, maintaining the freedom of navigation in international airspace which covers 52% of the globe. </p><p>General Robinson served in many other senior leadership positions and again, was often the first woman to do so. Her entire career demonstrates remarkable achievements at the highest levels of war fighting operations, diplomatic engagement, and political coordination. </p><p>With audiences, General Robinson shares her personal leadership principles, she considers the unique challenges of being a woman in a world dominated by men and offers her insider’s perspective and insights on national security issues and geo-political trends.</p><p>General Robinson is a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for Security, Strategy and Technology at Brookings and the Belfer Center. In 2016, she was named one of <i>TIME</i> Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” and in 2017, she appeared on the magazine’s cover when she was named one of <i>TIME’s</i> 46 “Women Who Are Changing the World” as part of the<i> TIME</i> “Firsts” project. </p>
Four-Star General; First Woman in U.S. History to Lead a Combatant Command
<ul><li><strong>Leadership Through Crisis</strong></li><li>General Robinson’s highly decorated military career gave her a wide range of experience as a commander during peacetime and crisis. With candor and insight, she helps leaders understand the particular challenges of navigating teams through periods of uncertainty—while maintaining high standards of performance—and shares her own leadership principles and lessons learned along the way.</li><li><strong>Reaching for the Sky: Being a Powerful Woman in a World Dominated by Men</strong></li><li>As a combatant commander and four-star General, Lori Robinson was the only woman to reach the highest ranks of service in the U.S. Department of Defense. Reporting directly to the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada, she was responsible for early warning and engagement of air and space threats to the homeland. With audiences, she talks about what it was like to achieve so many “firsts” as a woman in the military, and she speaks with candor about the challenges she faced as she broke one glass ceiling after another.</li><li><strong>The State of US National Security in our Airspace</strong></li><li>Drawing on her 36 years in the U.S. Air Force, four-star General Lori Robinson offers her insight on the state of U.S. National Security. As the Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), she reported directly to the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada. General Robinson was responsible for early warning and engagement of air and space threats to the United States and Canada, including the ballistic missile threats from North Korea. She guides audiences through her experiences to reflect on the most pressing U.S. national security issues today. </li></ul>