Category Archives: Caroline’s life

Our friends over at The Creative Coalition (representing Hollywood in Washington DC) just told me CEO Robin Bronk  will be furthering their mission to connect Washington DC with the world via Hollywood (a genius plan and one of my future missions as well) in a new column she is writing for The Hill’s gossip section “Washington Scene”. 

The Hill’s (DC’s newspaper and online blog) Washington Scene is literally better than Page Six and one of my models for The Daily Truffle. They go inside DC as best anyone can to highlight the social players and connect the dots between legislation, lobbyists, people and parties.

The concept of Robin’s column, based of the book she edited for Harper Collins while George Bush was in the White House, also called “5 Minutes with The President,” is to have producers, actors & directors give their view on what the most important issues are right now – and how to fix them.

Now with a new President in power, Robin thought it was time for a new edition. The Hill publisher Fran McMahon, thought so too this year when she and Robin were seated at the same table this year at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner – which is arguably the most important and glamorous party in the world. The event is held annually at The White House and invited media outlets are asked to send celebrities and correspondents for a night of connecting and collaborating with politicians in DC. 

This year The Creative Coalition brought along Tim Daly, Adrian Grenier, Patricia Arquette and several others, proving that Robin’s strong connection with celebrities and influence in Washington makes her the perfect player to pen this column.

I just got on the phone with Robin, a friend of a friend, to find about more about her new column. “It’s not a place to rant and rave. This is where you have 5 minutes to convince the President; what do you say??” – Robin Bronk, CEO Creative Coalition

Her column will appear on Wednesdays when Congress is in session and will be featured online at The Hill’s Washington Scene website (washingtonscene.thehill.com). Upcoming columns feature interviews with Adrian Grenier, Trudie Styler, America Ferrara, Tim Daly and other notables.

The Creative Coalition (TCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity organized by the creative community to learn about pressing issues so they can better inform the public and nation.

ROBIN BRONK – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER – THE CREATIVE COALITION

The Creative Coalition (TCC) appointed Robin Bronk Chief Executive Officer on April 16^th 2010.  TCC is the leading national, nonprofit, nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment industry.  As CEO, Ms. Bronk is dedicated to educating, mobilizing, and activating the entertainment industry and arts community on issues of public importance, particularly the First Amendment, arts advocacy, arts in education, and media literacy. 

Ms. Bronk started her career at The Creative Coalition in July, 1998 as Executive Director. During her tenure, Ms. Bronk has taken TCC from a New York-based entity to a national organization with several satellite offices.  Headquartered in New York City, The Creative Coalition also has a presence in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC.  Most recently, Ms. Bronk created The Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Initiative, a division of TCC that produces and supports films with messages important to the domestic and global agendas.  Through the Spotlight Initiative, Ms. Bronk has created partnerships with the leading independent film distributors and producers including HBO, Weinstein Company, Oscilloscope, Focus Features, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Paladin, Participant, Baltimore Films, Abramorama, Incognito, and Original Media, among others.

Ms. Bronk is an author and public speaker and most recently produced the feature film airing on Showtime, Poliwood, directed by Academy Award-winner Barry Levinson.  She currently is producing a documentary on obesity also with Mr. Levinson, and a feature film set to go into production in September 2010.

Ms. Bronk serves as spokesperson for TCC and is a frequent speaker and communicator on the role of the entrainment industry in public advocacy campaigns.  She has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, People, Boston Globe, The Washington Post; and has been a guest of The O’Reilly Factor, Hardball, Scarborough Country, as well as CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, PBS, New York 1 and other broadcast outlets as well as a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.  She also has been selected to be a participant in the 2010 Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Conference.  Ms. Bronk received the2010 Artivist Award for her leadership in the arts and activism.  She has edited two books, “If You Had Five Minutes With the President” and “Art & Soul.” 

Ms. Bronk has exponentially grown TCC’s operating budget by designing and instituting corporate sponsorship programs and cause marketing opportunities.  Ms. Bronk also has created several signature programs for The Creative Coalition including the New York Business Leader Task Force on Runaway Production, The Creative Coalition Film Festival Dialogue Events, the Spotlight Awards, Stand Up For Class Mentors, Capitol Hill Leaders Advisory Council, The Creative Coalition’s Inaugural Ball, Reel Life Vs. Real Life Series, Seconding the First Dialogues, Parents Advisory Council for TV Watch, The Spotlight Initiative for Independent Film, as well as many others.

Ms. Bronk is a seasoned Capitol Hill strategist and advocate.  She has represented TCC at numerous Congressional Hearings, and represented the organization and it’s legislative agenda before Members of Congress and the White House.   

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Bronk served as Vice President, Corporate Community Strategies, for APCO Worldwide, an independently owned global communication consultancy with offices in major cities throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Her clients there included corporations, governments, industry associations and nonprofit organizations.  Her areas of client services included corporate and internal communication; crisis management; issue management; government relations; media relations; coalition building; corporate social responsibility and online communication. She also served as the Director of Cause Celeb, an APCO division that matches celebrities and entertainment leaders with national causes and issues of importance.

Ms. Bronk played a leading role in APCO’s work with the MCI Foundation.  As an on-loan executive, she served as the interim director of the foundation managing its multi-million dollar philanthropic grant-making program.  Besides MCI, Ms. Bronk’s clients also included the ASCAP Leiber & Stoller Music Scholarship Fund, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Geographic Society, the Recording Industry Association of America, National Council of Jewish Women and American Forest Foundation. 

Prior to joining APCO, Ms. Bronk worked for ABC News, served as a program coordinator for a weekly education series that aired on C-SPAN and worked as a program instructor of the Close Up Foundation.

Ms. Bronk serves on the New York Cultural Task Force, is a board member of The White House Project, The Close Up Foundation and Young Playwrights Inc., and a member of the Public Relations Society of America and Women of Washington.  She has won numerous awards and honors for her public affairs work.   

Ms. Bronk received her Bachelor of Arts from Pennsylvania State University.