Robin Hauser '78e
Robin Hauser '78e was the 2016 Distinguished Alumna Award Recipient.
She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, TED speaker, and leading voice at the intersection of social impact, gender equity, and cultural change. Through rigorous journalism and deeply human storytelling, her work exposes the systems—often invisible—that shape opportunity, power, and choice, challenging audiences to rethink long-held assumptions.
She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, TED speaker, and leading voice at the intersection of social impact, gender equity, and cultural change. Through rigorous journalism and deeply human storytelling, her work exposes the systems—often invisible—that shape opportunity, power, and choice, challenging audiences to rethink long-held assumptions.
She is the director of the acclaimed feature documentaries Running for Jim (2013), which follows a high school women’s cross-country team and their coach living with ALS, capturing the resilience, mentorship, and community that emerge in the face of profound adversity; CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap (2015), which examines systemic barriers facing women in technology; BIAS (2018), a groundbreaking film that brings together neuroscientists, psychologists, and real-world stories to reveal how unconscious bias shapes decision-making in workplaces, classrooms, and communities; $AVVY (2021), an exploration of the cultural, economic, and psychological forces that influence how women understand—and undervalue—their financial worth; and THAW (2025), which investigates the rapidly expanding egg-freezing industry, examining issues of access, regulation, and the commodification of fertility through the experiences of women navigating an increasingly complex reproductive landscape.
Robin is also a TED speaker whose talks on bias in artificial intelligence and the likability dilemma for women leaders have reached global audiences. She regularly speaks at conferences, universities, and corporate convenings, where her work is used as a catalyst for dialogue, learning, and institutional change. Her films are widely screened and licensed by corporations, nonprofits, and educational institutions worldwide.
She is the founder of Finish Line Feature Films, a production company dedicated to documentary storytelling with measurable social impact. Her projects are supported by leading philanthropic foundations and mission-driven partners, and are accompanied by robust impact campaigns that have helped spark policy conversations, workplace initiatives, and educational programming across sectors.
Based in the United States, Robin continues to develop and produce documentary films that interrogate equity, power, and the values shaping our future—inviting audiences not just to watch, but to act.
Burke's mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
Burke's admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.