Robin Wilt, a mom who is running for Congress, joins host Emily Hessney Lynch for a thoughtful, honest conversation about how her experiences as a mom have shaped her political views. We talk about her adult children and how proud she is of them, the painful years-long legal battle her family endured in an effort to hold her son's school accountable for their poor handling of racist harassment and bullying he faced, and how she felt when her youngest came out to her as trans. We also discuss her daughter's experiences as a trans woman in sports and the discrimination she faced when policies were deliberately changed to exclude her.

In the second half of the show, we explore how growing up as one of the few Black kids in Pittsford shaped Robin's perspective and her dedication to social justice, as well as the dilemma of where to send your biracial kids to school in the greater Rochester area. Robin also shares why she's running for office now, her fierce desire to protect people from the predations of the current administration, and what she hopes to achieve if elected. Sustainability, universal healthcare, education equity, and immigration justice are just a few of her key priorities as an anti-ICE, anti-genocide, anti-fascist, and anti-poverty candidate.

Links:

• One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller – novel about a trans girl returning to the football team after her transition
• Rugby for All – organization advocating for more inclusive rugby
• For more about Robin and her campaign, check out her website and Instagram.
• Emily's website & Instagram.

Key Dates & Deadlines:

• Deadline to register to vote (so that you are eligible to vote in the primary): June 13. If you are registering by mail, you must registration must be received by 6/13.
• On June 13, you can also register to vote in person at any early voting site.
• Early voting runs from June 13-June 21.
• The New York State primary election is on June 23, 2026. Polls are open 6am-9pm.
• Check out other election FAQs on the Monroe County website.

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We went to a playground in Pittsford over the weekend, and I was like, I'm underdressed for this. Everyone was in, like, business casual and, like, expensive pants and shoes. Very strange.

Hello and welcome to It's A Lot, a podcast about things that are a lot. On this show, we have honest conversations about the highs and lows of social media, parenthood, and more. When it comes to complex topics, online discourse can lack nuance and empathy. That's why we're leaning into deep conversations, making space for conflicting, messy feelings, and keeping it real about how we feel.

We could all use a little more of that sometimes. I'm your host, Emily Hessney Lynch, and today I'm excited to be chatting with Robin Wilt.

Robin is a community organizer, small business owner, and public servant. She's previously served on the Brighton Town Board and is currently running to represent New York's 25th congressional district. Robin is also a mom of three. I'm really looking forward to talking about all of those things today. Welcome to the show, Robin.

Thank you so much for having me.

Can you talk a little bit about, like, what is a lot in your life lately and how you're doing right now?

Oh, my gosh. What is a lot? Well, you know, of course, I pondered this question prior to coming on the show, and there is a lot going on. Right.

Especially since I'm in the political arena.

What strikes me as a lot is the fact that certain communities are being targeted to the extent that we've seen, and there doesn't seem to be any safe haven of refuge from the onslaught that this administration is reaping upon our communities. And so that's a lot how we bear responsibility to address that and protect our communities.

I definitely, as a public servant, as a small business owner and as a mom, view my role in addressing that and protecting our communities very, very deeply.

So it's been heartening to see Rochester step up with some of the, like, ICE raids and the community coming together to actually, like, protect people on the ground.

Absolutely.

What does it mean to you to, like, protect our people?

To me, to protect our people is to lean into mutual aid networks, really just be good neighbors. I think that we've lost a lot of civility in terms of our interactions in the political realm, and we're not doing okay.

I consider myself sort of a student of pop culture and public discourse, and so I spend a probably an unhealthy amount of time in the comments section. And to see that evolve so drastically where there doesn't seem to be any Low bar anymore.

The personal attacks, the knee jerk reactions that really you would think wouldn't be, would be reserved for, you know, the private realm. People wouldn't put it out there, out there in public. There doesn't seem to be any threshold anymore.

Politeness is utterly gone out the window, let alone like, it's usually the kind of decency.

Yeah. And people would never say that to someone's face for the most part.

Right.

You're saying it behind a screen and you don't have a profile picture or anything. People don't know who it is, saying these horrible things. Like, people are really bold these days.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

So really creating spaces that are safe for discourse, creating communities that are safe ones where we can rely on one another and keep us safe. Like that was a mantra during the Black Lives Matter movement, for instance.

We really can't rely on our government interest, infrastructure, or even our leaders, you know, to protect us. Necessarily. So really leaning into community and making sure that they were there for one another.

We'll definitely talk more about all of this in the second half, but I want to dive into your family stuff too. And as a mom, like, what is your motherhood journey like? I know your kids are adults now, is that right?

Yes, my kids range in age from 21 to 26. My older two are just 18 months apart. So my older sons are 25 and 26 now. And my youngest, I have a trans daughter who is 21.

Wow. What is this parenting grown up children phase looking like? I'm sure it's very different than me being with a two year old these days.

Yeah. So trite to say that. It goes by very quickly, but it does go by very quickly. You know, I can still remember the days when we were running around.

You know, it gets easier, easier once they're able to, I say, carry their own stuff.

That was so much stuff. It's unbelievable.

So much stuff. And like once you, you know, you can kind of put it in a backpack and put it on their shoulders, it seems to get a lot easier.

But I can honestly say that I don't think I have a favorite age or a favorite phase. You know, they're just all different and they have their highs and lows in different ways depending on the age group.

But it has been the joy of my life being a parent and seeing my kids grow up and be, you know, grow into themselves and their identities. And I'm very proud of the fact that they are close. My oldest, of course, are 18 months apart.

And I think that led to a lot of sibling rivalry, which we did not anticipate. Maybe we should have. They were both on the spectrum, so I think they were very good at pushing one another's buttons when they were younger.

But now all my kids are very good friends. I. My youngest just happened to come return across the country from Denver to Syracuse, where she lives. And my husband was driving through.

He was making a road trip across the state and he happened to call my oldest and he said, oh, well, you know, I just showed up at Camille's house. I just showed up. He was visiting my youngest and totally unbeknownst to us. So it's nice to see that they have that relationship.

That's really cool. I know. It's definitely not guaranteed. Some people are like, oh, I'm gonna give my kid a sibling so they have a best friend. And I'm like, okay. You don't know for sure.

Not necessarily.

Yeah. What are they interested in? Like, what do they do for work? Do they have any cool hobbies these days?

Yeah. So they are as different from one another as they could be.

He's stationed at Fort Drum and he's going to be pursuing his master's in business administration at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business. So he will be moving across the country soon. And then my middle child is kind of my husband's clone.

My husband is very much into tech and my middle child has been a technologist since feel like out of the birth canal. He has been very interested in technology. He's a programmer, just like his dad.

He works remotely, so he lives in Rochester, but works remotely for a Seattle base, the tech company and AI company. And then my youngest is an artist.

She graduated from Syracuse last year with a degree in studio art and was until recently pursuing her master's in arts education. So she's my sensitive one. She's like very artistic, very. I mean, very creative, very different.

All of them very cool. Yeah, that's quite the spectrum of careers and interests. Wow. What were some of the struggles of motherhood for you, especially in the early days? What were the hard parts?

Well, obviously having two under two, we struggled a lot. It was very much intentional. We wanted them to be close in age, but I don't think you foresee some of the practical challenges.

I nursed until, you know, my kids weaned themselves. And so just having two, you know, one barely finished nursing and one like, you know, nursing, and that was a struggle.

But again, little kids, little problems, I feel like. And big kids, maybe bigger problems.

So I look back on all of that, you know, juggling, and I think just the practicalities that you have to deal with just seem much more manageable than as they get older and have more autonomy. So. Yeah.

What kind of struggles came up as they got older?

Well, you know, obviously socialization is something that you. You want to see your kids thrive socially. And having kids on the spectrum, that was, that was a challenge.

We, particularly with my oldest, we went through some very heady times in terms of him being bullied. And of course there was a racial component too, and so that was difficult. We did move for a while out west, as I said, my husband is in tech.

And so when we moved, my oldest was in seventh grade. And that stage of development is very tricky, right? Yes, very hard time for a move.

And so, you know, he experienced some bullying and we actually ended up litigating a lawsuit over it because he was experiencing such severe peer on peer harassment. Those were some of the challenges that we faced.

That was when you were out west?

Yeah, yeah. In Seattle or Mercer island, to be exact.

Did the lawsuit have the outcome you want? I don't know how much you're able to talk about that.

Yeah, no, it is concluded, but it did take four years. And so from seventh grade to effectively 11th grade, the school district was litigating against us. And, you know, so that creates, you know, very difficult circumstances in terms of the kids and being accepted in their schools.

We were reaffirmed by the courts and eventually the school district did end up issuing a monetary settlement to my son for the circumstances that he endured. So. So that was a just outcome, I would say.

It had to be hard for him and like, even articulating, like, what was going on and then what he wanted, like, was he able to be part of the lawsuit in any way? Like, how much did he understand it and like, hope for the outcome that.

You got the administrative force, because initially we were just trying to get the school district to acknowledge that they had violated anti discrimination laws and harassment, intimidation and bullying laws. And since.

So it was a records case for the most part, where we were communicating with the school district and there were responses back and forth, and so he was pretty much sheltered from that.

But then when we got to the phase where it was a civil lawsuit against the district after Having prevailed in the administration, administrative law portion, then I think that was more difficult for him because they did. He had to testify. He had to actually appear in court. Not necessarily in court, but there were interrogatories and whatnot with attorneys.

And so I think that was difficult. But they. He has his own advocate in court. Right. Though we were the ones who were litigating. But ultimately this settlement kind of belonged to him.

And so he was asked, like, what he would like to see the. The result be by the guardian ad litem and the judge.

And he's very much into rugby, and he found a program where he could spend his senior year in New Zealand. And that's what he did. He played. He played rugby in New Zealand. In northern New Zealand for his senior year in high school. And that was quite the experience.

That's amazing. My brother studied abroad in New Zealand, so he really loved it and went to rugby games all the time.

Yeah, yeah.

Your son is the one who. To West Point also?

Yes.

Do you feel like those experiences with bullying somehow shaped his path and sent him in that direction?

Yeah, well, my brother also went to West Point, so there was that connection. And I would not have thought peacenik parents like he had, that my son would necessarily end up at a military academy.

But his uncle talked to him about it because he was quite a leader on the rugby pitch. And so my brother suggested that maybe this might be a path that he wanted to pursue. And he did end up pursuing it.

But, yeah, it was a passion of mine as well. I played rugby in college, so in clubside thereafter. So I made them all try rugby.

Worth a shot. You got one to play.

Exactly.

You were talking about the lawsuit. I'm curious, were you working as a realtor back then or were you staying home with them in that era? Or what was your.

I was in Washington state, and while I am licensed in Washington State, I was not really practicing because it was a hard transition. And I. And we were privileged enough to have me devote full time to parenting. But yeah, I was.

We were pro se because nobody would actually take the case. And so it was really me writing the briefs.

Yeah. I was gonna say it sounds like a full time job managing the bullying lawsuit.

Exactly. Yeah. So it was pretty much a full time job, you know, parenting all three kids and trying to get through the lawsuit. And so it was a lot.

Yeah. When did you guys move back to Rochester?

Okay, got it. So I had wanted to ask too, about, like, raising young black children. I know some parents have to have difficult conversations about how you move through the world. What are some of the conversations that came up with you and your kids as they grew up?

Oh, well, because we've been through the lawsuit experience, I think that one of the ways that I wanted to illustrate to my kids that the world would view them differently is just with a tangible example of how they wouldn't necessarily be given the benefit of the doubt in situations where they might be at fault or they might be accused of something. And so there used to be this show on what would you do? Like John Quinones hosted. It was like this ABC show.

And they would set up all these scenarios, hidden camera scenarios, where they would just see what people would do on certain circumstances. And there was this one particular episode where they had somebody who looked like they were stealing a bike.

So they put this bike, set up this bike, and first they had, like, a white young adult, like, go. And he had all these tools.

He's, like, dressed in a T shirt and with the baseball cap, and he's working his tools at this bike that is locked in a public rack. And basically he was allowed to do that. You know, people would walk by, they'd kind of look at him curiously, like, what are you doing?

And he'd be like, well, I'm just trying to get this bike loose or whatever. And for the most part, people moved on. He was there for several minutes.

And then they set up the same scenario with black young adult and dressed the same. Same set of tools, whatnot.

And within seconds, he was confronted, and they could barely reset the scene before somebody would come up and be upon him again. Then they did the same setup with a young woman. And in that scenario, there were actually people helping her steal the bike.

Wow.

Yeah. And so young white woman, I should specify. And so I showed this segment just so they could really see what, in practice, it looked like.

Like a racial hierarchy looked like. And just understand that regardless whether it was just regardless whether they were engaged in anything that was wrong, they might be perceived as doing something wrong. And they would not necessarily get the benefit of the doubt that their white peers were.

How did they take that?

They kind of took it in stride. I think they were just like, we know this, mom. Okay.

Kids have, like, a racial awareness far earlier than we would think that they do. I think, like, from a much younger age than we would generally perceive.

They pick up so much.

Yeah. They are being influenced by all sorts of cultural norms, so they get it.

I also wanted to go back to your trans daughter that you mentioned, can you share a little bit about what that's been like, parenting your kid through that journey?

I think it's surprisingly easy to make the transition from a parenting standpoint because you love your kid and, you know, when your kid comes to you and they a. You're proud that they feel safe enough to reveal that to you and have you share in that moment.

But it didn't change anything from my perspective in terms of how I was going to support her and how I was going to make sure that she felt validated and she was able to live her true self. From that standpoint, I didn't think it's a challenge. What's most challenging is really societal pressure.

Not only is she a trans woman, she's African American. She is actually quite an elite athlete.

And so navigating that very treacherous landscape at this point, you know, when we've had executive orders like targeting specifically trans femme athletes, that has been a big challenge. And that's what has been a lot lately, you know?

Yeah. Was she, when she came to you, were you surprised at all, or were there any inklings when she was younger that you looked back on later and were like, oh, okay, you know what?

I was. I was pretty surprised. I, you know, like, maybe I should feel a little ashamed of that, but. But I did not expect it.

And I have gone back and spoken to some of her teachers and whatnot, and they said, oh, no, we saw it. So, you know, I call it giving them space to be themselves, you know, was never a concern of mine.

And so I think that we set up enough examples, you know, being a female athlete myself, playing sports after college and whatnot, even if it was club side, women's sports tends to be very inclusive. So it's the community that they were exposed to that we grew up in, like, was very open and inclusive.

And how awesome that she felt safe to come to you and share that.

Yeah, great.

I also wanted to ask, you mentioned briefly before we started recording, that there was something about how the news came public. Was there, like, some kind of outing that happened?

Well, as I said, I forced all my kids to play rugby, and some got into it more than others. Like my oldest, he played rugby at West Point for a short stint. But my youngest, Camille, also played rugby.

She started out at Bard College at Simon's Rock. So she went to early college. She left high school as a junior, went on to Bard, did two years there, and then transferred to Syracuse University.

And she played rugby at Syracuse. Bard didn't have a Rugby team. But once she went off to Syracuse, she'd played rugby growing up, she coached one of her teams.

So she excelled and the team excelled along with her. They ended up qualifying for nationals and she had a stellar performance in nationals.

And then Syracuse University got a call that a right wing news outlet had basically identified her as a trans athlete and was going to go public with it. And we were fortunate in that it seems like very niche and small news outlets seem to run with the story.

And it wasn't like on Fox News where it would have been a much larger safety issue, but that was obviously a cause of concern. And.

And actually the national collegiate rugby, they ended up changing their trans participation policy ex post facto after Syracuse had qualified for national competition. And so she had to undergo like very invasive testing. It was. And at one point we didn't know if she would be able to play.

So those were very trying times. And that was her senior year. So it definitely detracted from her experience.

And I will say, because I want to raise awareness about this, she was also drafted to play professional rugby, professional women's rugby. And she moved out to Denver to pursue that opportunity. We were elated for her. And same thing happened expos Facto.

They changed their transition femme participation policy and she became no longer eligible to play. So this is definitely uncharted territory where it seems legal to discriminate against trans femmes, especially in the area of sports.

And we're talking about such a minuscule community.

small amount of people.

Yeah, right. It does feel very personal and very targeted.

Is there anything people can do to speak out or push back against the sports organizations that are changing the rules?

There is an organization called Rugby for All that you could definitely support. And definitely we're going to be pursuing this further. I think most players, and I would count myself among this group, most women's players, would like to see rugby remain inclusive. And.

And it is really a matter of people from outside the sport and people playing political games that would like to control who is, you know, deemed appropriate to play women's sports. And as a woman, I find that offensive.

I read an amazing book last year that I just wanted to plug. I don't know if you read much fiction, but it's called One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller. And it's about a trans femme girl who she had played football before transitioning.

Okay.

She's going into her senior year of high school and they really need the kicker back. And she was the kicker. So she comes back as the one girl on the Team.

Oh, my goodness.

And it's, it's got great humor in it. The author is based in Buffalo, so it's like set in kind of like a Buffalo area. And she, at one point, people are trying to get her to like, be the voice of trans women in sports, but it's so much pressure and she just knows she wants to do it. And she's getting recruited by colleges and she's not sure if she wants to stay in football. It's a great book.

I will check that out. I'll check that out.

Well, one last thing before we switch gears. I'm curious how your experiences as a mom have shaped your political views. Because I know for me, like, becoming a mom, I feel like just radicalized me.

Oh, absolutely. And, and I feel the same way, especially with regard to the climate crisis, with regard to, you know, the, what I put at the forefront, human rights climate crisis, you know, sustainability. And.

Yeah, sustainability is definitely one of the things that I center in terms of my political career, just because it's something that I would like to see for my children. Gun safety, things. Along those lines.

I think it's inherent that you want to keep your kids safe and you want them to have a future in which they thrive. And so definitely all of those things have been priorities for me as I govern and lead.

I say things to my husband like, oh, we have to let him enjoy his light up shoes now because he won't be able to wear them to school because the shooters will see them. And he's like, what world do we live in?

Exactly.

So bleak. Is child care affordability something that came up for you and you're raising your kids too?

Yeah, childcare affordability. And like I said, or lack thereof. Yeah, yeah, we were privileged and.

But one of the reasons that you make the decision that the financial decision to parent full time is that childcare is so expensive.

When we spent one year in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, and I remember that it just, it wasn't feasible for me to work then either because childcare was so unaffordable in that community.

And being stay at home, mom, going to the playground, I just remember, you know, especially being a person of color and my kids are actually biracial. So going to the park with my kids, I was, it was generally presumed that I was the nanny.

So again, all of these things, including my own experiences growing up. I was raised in a predominantly white suburban town. I was raised in Pittsford.

And those experiences have shaped me and shaped my perspective and how we govern for inclusivity and equity.

I didn't know you were from Pittsford either, because I was Pittsford also, and I feel like now I live in the city, and on any given day, I see more people of color than I did in, like, a week in Pittsford. I don't know if it's gotten a little more diverse, but it was so, so white background.

It's been stubbornly consistent in Pittsford.

Sounds about right. We went to a playground in Pittsford over the weekend, and I was like, I'm underdressed for this. Everyone was in, like, business casual and, like, expensive pants and shoes. Very strange.

So let's talk a little bit about your political career. What got you interested in politics in the first place? Were you always a political person or did that kind of come later on?

Well, I mentioned the fact that I grew up in Pittsford and I think is one of the few black families that were there. It gives you a different perspective on things.

And so I always had this sense of equity and justice and fairness that was just underscored everything that I did. Right. Because I was almost an inherently political being, being one of the few black people in Pittsford.

So I think that gives you a different perspective.

When I went off to college, I did study government, and then after I had kids, started getting very involved in different grassroots political organizations.

Back then it was MoveOn, so I was involved in MoveOn.org and particularly trying to fight for universal health care, trying to improve the environment, climate resilience and environmental justice, things along those lines. And as a 14th amendment citizen myself, my parents immigrated here from Guyana, South America. Immigrant rights was another thing that I championed.

And then, of course, then we had the Black Lives Matter movement. So just very involved in all of those fronts, but really just centering human rights and social justice, it has always been part of my being.

And I don't know if it's because of how I grew up or just my experiences parenting, but that's definitely been a focus, a consistent focus.

What was it like going to Pittsford schools and being one of the few Black kids?

Well, there's the obvious pitfalls. Like, you know, I was called the N word in the third grade, I think, before I even, like, really had a sense of distinctness.

That aside, I think that it was isolating in a way. My parents, again, being immigrants, they were very demanding in terms of academics.

And I think what my siblings and I went on to achieve is reflective of that. My older sister went to Princeton. I went to Dartmouth. My. The sister after that went to U of R. And then we had another Princeton, you know, West Point. So everybody excelled academically, but that was like, not a question in my house.

You know, you had to bring home good grades because educational opportunity was definitely paramount. So not only was I one of the few black kids, but then I was like one of the only black kids who accelerated in advanced classes. So that.

And actually that's where I met my husband. My husband and I met in high school and he was double accelerated in math and I was one year accelerated in math and he.

So he was one of the youngest people in the class and he sat right behind me and he wasn't very talkative. And I said, you know, do you ever talk again? I was always drawn towards people who were on the outskirts, on the margins.

Do you feel like much has changed with your kids going to Brighton schools, or is it kind of some similar issues still happening?

There are definitely issues that continue to happen. And I call this a devil's conundrum for black parents.

It's like, do you enroll your kids in schools where a lot of the, the kids look like them and they're going to be comfortable in terms of that experience?

Or do you seek out a lot of those schools where the kids look like your kids are underperforming, schools they lack in terms of achievement and opportunity?

Or do you put your kids in predominantly white schools where they're going to inevitably face some of that racial dynamic where they're going to be bullied or they're going to be not given the benefit of the doubt, or they're going to have experiences that you'd rather not expose your kids to with regard to racial hierarchy. I just decided that I was gonna do what my parents did.

And I think you spent half your your time parenting exactly like your parents did and half your time parenting the exact opposite of what your parents did. But in that regard, it was like this was the devil I knew. And so that's what we decided to do. We decided to enroll our kids.

And also I'm a public school advocate, so very much wanted my kids to be in public schools. So we chose districts that were high performing districts. And for the most part, those are predominantly white districts.

No one should be in that position where they have to make that choice.

Like, yeah, that's why educational equity is at the center of my priorities.

I'd love to talk a little bit about what you've learned from being on the Brighton town board and some of the stuff that you did there.

So the Brighton town board, I served on the Town board for eight years, two terms, and I was progenitor of the Inclusion Diversity and Equity Advisory Board. That board was made up initially of 18 committed residents of Brighton who were volunteers.

They came together and with the help of a consultant, crafted an inclusion diversity and equity action plan.

And as a result of that, Brighton is one of the only communities in definitely in upstate New York, but probably one of the few communities across the state that has a DEI officer. And so we have somebody in a full time position that looks at issues of equity, inclusion and justice at the town level.

And it's one of the reasons why you see a lot of celebrations of culture in Brighton. It's all with an eye towards greater inclusion and equity within our community. So that's one of the things that I'm very proud of.

Also led on environmental issues within the town. We were the first and only town to have a community choice aggregation plan before the city ever envisioned it.

Brighton implemented that plan and over the course of 18 months we were able to save residents who were involved in the CCA $1.6 million. We negotiated an extremely favorable rate in terms of energy and it was a 100% renewable community choice aggregation plan.

So again, that was another crowning achievement.

But I said when I was in roll, one of my proudest points were probably the points where I disagreed with my fellow board members because those were issues on which I brought a unique perspective to bear.

And when we were talking about health care plans for our employees and you know, obviously we have union unionized employees at the town level, but our unrepresented, our non unionized staff, our supervisor really wanted them all to not have a choice in terms of health care. We want it all in the high deductible plan because that would save the town money.

I was adamant that we should not be making those decisions for families. We do not know how people budget for their health care and so they should have the option.

Even if it seemed like, you know, a premium based plan was going to be less economically effective for them. It wasn't our role as town board members to make that decision for our employees.

Especially given that these tended to be the less, less well compensated employees in terms of town staff. So most of our best compensated employees were of course unionized. So our non unionized workers workforce were in a vulnerable position.

And so I thought

How did that one shake out?

Did not win that battle. But definitely in terms of inclusive zoning, in terms of environmental sustainability made a lot of progress. It was because of pushes by.

I was liaison to the Sustainability Oversight Committee.

And they were the ones who made the recommendation that our town hall, which was being renovated after 73 years of having the same H vac system, that instead of installing an H vac system, traditional H vac system, we would have a geothermal system and solar panels to make sure that we installed the system that was going to make it through the next 70 years, as opposed to something that was going to be outdated the second that we installed it. So we had our first 100% or, well, net zero, almost 100%, and net zero lodge while I was in office.

And again, that was the Sustainability Oversight Committee. And one of the areas where we starting to make progress is in terms of inclusive zoning. We. At very least.

And this is where the federal funding has kind of changed with regard to funding environmental initiatives. We did secure grant funding for inclusionary zoning. We're looking specifically at Monroe Avenue.

And so that is a project that is continuing to unfold. We might not get the federal money for it, but definitely the town is having a conversation about how we can be more inclusive.

Because I don't think people realize this, but when you talk about disparities in education and opportunity. The town of Brighton is the site of three of the most educationally segregating borders in the country.

The border between Rochester City School District and Penfield schools. But, of course, Penfield does not share a border with the city of Rochester.

It's Brighton with Penfield schools, and that's number one in the entire country. Wow. And then the other two borders being the border between RCSD and Brighton Central School District, that's like number five.

And then the other one is the border between RCSD and Russian schools. And again, it's Brighton with Russia. So that's like number 13 or something.

But to face that reality and know the history and the legacy of racialized zoning policy, it definitely makes you focus on that in terms of equity, because it's these. I don't think people realize that it sees the multiplicity of borders that we have.

These segregating educational borders is the way that we hoard and retain wealth within suburban schools and to the detriment of our Rochester City school district.

Mm. I've had so many people ask if I'm gonna move to the suburbs as soon as my kid is school age, and I really don't want to do that. But it's just.

We'll navigate it and see what happens. And I hope things will get better. And people keep investing in the city and pushing for change, but it's tough.

It is tough. It is tough. And you know, I remember when my kids were very young and we were in Seattle, we had already started kind of looking.

We lived in Seattle proper and we were like, what decision are we going to make? And. But we came back here to Rochester for a spate like of eight years and then we moved back out into Seattle and ended up on Mercer Island.

But at that time I was kind of looking at Seattle public schools.

But this was a time when we had the broad school model and like I said, called the Seattle school district and they were just like, they literally called themselves customer service representatives. And there was like this weird privatization model that was being implemented and I was like, I don't know if I could deal with this.

So we ended up in a suburban school district. But it's a conundrum, really.

Yeah. I want to talk a little bit about your campaign for Congress, of course. I've seen some people online be like, I don't know anything about Robin.

She's just not Joe Morelle. Like, a lot of people don't like Morelle for valid reason.

Can you share some of the things that you actually believe in and how you're going to get them done other than just not being Joe?

Right, right. And mostly people come up to me and they frame it in a positive sense.

They're kind of like, yeah, we're so happy to have an alternative, but definitely I want to drill down on what that alternative offers. And I am a progressive. Joe Morelle is not a progressive. He's not a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

He does not believe in some of the programs of social uplift that progressives do think would be paramount to maintaining our society, like universal healthcare. I do believe healthcare is a human right.

Healthcare premiums are untenable. I also don't accept any corporate PAC donations because I don't believe that money is speech. I don't believe money is free speech.

I don't believe we are grassroots funded campaign. I would try to overturn Citizens United the second I hit the halls of Congress.

But one of the main reasons I'm running is because I don't think our current leadership is meeting this moment in history.

I talked about certain communities being targeted and right now I don't Think that our leadership is protecting us from the predations of the executive branch. There are powers that you have to keep the executive branch in check when you're in Congress that I don't think are being leveraged.

You have the power of the purse. You have investigatory power. You have legislative power. I was recently endorsed by is a courage candidate by the People's Impeachment Project.

And my pledge is that on day one, I will file articles of impeachment against this administration. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the Senate does. It doesn't matter if they ratify those articles of impeachment.

What does matter is that you're fulfilling your role as a member of the House and bringing those articles. When you see lawlessness at the executive branch.

And I like to say I'm the only anti ice, anti genocide, anti fascist, anti poverty candidate that's in this race. I don't believe in endless war. I don't believe in war profiteering.

As somebody who is Blue Star mom is very close to members of the military and veterans, I do view our service members as a valuable resource. And I don't think that we should be using that resource indiscriminately.

I do think we should be using our military in wars of choice, in wars of vanity. Those are differences between myself and Joe Morelle.

It's all very refreshing, especially the no corporate PAC money.

Yeah.

There's just so much that and the pushing back. Like, I feel like Congress, everyone. It's amazing how much things have escalated in so little time. And it feels like no one is doing anything.

It's like, what are we doing here? You do have some degree of power. Like you said.

We're past the point. Yeah, we're past the point of strongly worded letters and flowery speeches, which I've seen a lot of from our current representation.

But what are you doing in order to push back against ice? ICE is a rogue agency. They are responsible for dozens of deaths in the past year. American citizens, not to mention those in detention.

We cannot allow that to go unchecked. We need to rein in this executive branch and. And the legislative branch is a check on executive authority. So I would like to see more done.

Well, we have time for one more question. I think everything like we've talked about is a lot, and there's a lot of doom and gloom. But what brings you joy these days when things feel heavy?

Well, definitely my kids bring me joy. And just interacting with people on this campaign trail that has been the source of tremendous joy for me.

Because regardless how bad things might be for people, you see joy being employed as an act of resistance. And that brings me joy.

The fact that we see solidarity, the fact that we see genuine concern for our neighbors, for our fellow human beings, that is a source of joy and hope for me.

So I'm hopeful and I'm hopeful that people will realize that we need change, that we need bold leadership that is going to fight, not fold in these times.

Yeah, we have wonderful neighbors where I live and the community is so tight knit and everyone looks out for each other and it's so nice. And I just want like bubbles like that to just expand and people that actually have each other's backs and. Absolutely, yeah, it's really nice.

I'm sure your kids are so proud of you. Are they excited for you or are they kind of like mom cringe?

They're a little bit of both. You know, they're excited on the one hand. On the other hand, they want no part of it.

Fair enough. Yeah. Well, thanks so much for coming on the show, Robin. This has been great.

Oh, well, thank you for having me.

And Robin, where can people find you on the web or where do you want them to find information about you?

To find out more information about the campaign, you can go to Robin for us, that's Robin F O R us U S. And you can find out more about my platform or also on socials. We're on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube.

But especially if you want to find out more about policies, we've done a number of videos regarding our policy positions that I think would be of interest to people.