ROBYN OCHS
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Robyn Ochs, Ed.M. is a professional speaker and consultant on issues related to sexual orientation and identity.

Speaking

Since 1985, Robyn has spoken at more than 400 colleges and universities. She has spoken at conferences and public events in Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, and the United States. She has keynoted numerous conferences, including the International Conference on Bisexuality; the European Bisexual Conference; the UK BiCon; the Midwest Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender College Conference; Out on the Prairie; Out in the Middle of the Wheatfield; the Pink Mountain Conference, the BECAUSE Conference; the Common Threads Youth Empowerment Retreat, and several other regional LGBT conferences. She speaks to university, community, youth, senior, corporate and professional groups.

Writing

Robyn is the editor of Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World (2005), an international anthology with authors from 32 countries. A second English edition of Getting Bi, and Spanish and Chinese language editions, are forthcoming in 2009. Robyn also wrote the Bisexual Resource Guide and is the current editor of Bi Women, a quarterly publication. Her writings have appeared in numerous women's studies, LGBT and multicultural anthologies.

Teaching

She has taught at MIT, Tufts University and at Johnson State College in Vermont. Her fields of interest include bisexual identity; identity and labels; GLBT history and politics in the United States and Canada; same-sex marriage; and the experiences of those who transgress the binary categories of gay/straight, masculine/feminine, black/white and/or male/female.

Campus activism

For 26 years, Robyn worked as an administrator at Harvard University, where she was co-founder and co-chair in 2008 of the LGBT Faculty and Staff Group; an active member of the Trans Task Force; co-founder and facilitator of LBTQ Lunches: a monthly lunch series for lesbian, bi, queer and trans women faculty and staff at Harvard; and a Faculty Adviser to Harvard’s undergraduate student LGBTQ organization, currently called QSA.

Board of Directors experience includes:

  • MassEquality (current)
  • Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus (current)
  • Boston Bisexual Women's Network. Co-founder and treasurer since 1988.
  • SpeakOut (Boston's GLBT Speaker's Bureau).

    Robyn holds the following academic degrees:

  • B.A., Language and Culture (Latin American Studies), State University of New York, Purchase
  • C.S.S., Administration and Management, Harvard University
  • Ed.M., Harvard University

    Awards
  • Havard Gay & Caucus's Lifetime Achievement Award for advocacy on the Harvard University Campus. Awarded Cambridge, MA, June 2009.
  • The 2009 recipient of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s Susan J. Hyde Activism Award for Longevity in the Movement. Awarded Denver, Colorado, January 2009.
  • The University of Massachusetts Stonewall Center "Continuing the Legacy of Stonewall" award. Presented May, 2007, Amhserst, MA.
  • Reinaldo dos Santos Memorial Award for Bisexual Activism. Awarded Sidney, Australia, March 1997.
  • The 1985 Unity and Diversity award for Outstanding Contribution to the Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Community. Awarded Amherst, MA, 1985.