On a crisp spring afternoon, Thursday, April 3, 2025, the modest lobby outside lecture hall 1030 at Montclair State University buzzed with quiet anticipation. As coffee cups warmed hands and small talk flowed, early childhood professionals and university staff gathered for a special occasion—one that radiated both warmth and reverence. Projector screens inside the hall glowed with bold green letters announcing the event: 2025 Early Childhood Luminary Professional Conversation, Honoring Eve Robinson.
This annual gathering, co-sponsored by the New Jersey Association of Infant Mental Health, the Coalition for Infant/Toddler Education, and the Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health at Montclair State University, is designed to honor an exceptional professional who has blazed a path in the field of infant and early childhood mental health. It’s a moment not just to celebrate one’s accomplishments, but to acknowledge a legacy of mentorship and inspiration.
The honoree also receives the Roots and Wings Award, a beautifully symbolic recognition: the “roots” representing the foundational contributions to the field, and the “wings” symbolizing the guidance and inspiration passed on to the next generation.
This year’s Luminary Professional, Eve Robinson, exemplifies both. Eve Robinson is the director Grow NJ Kids at Central Jersey Family Health Consortium, a professor at Montclair State University, and an advocate for early childhood educators and for public investment in early childhood education. As active in her personal life as she is in her professional life, Eve is an avid baseball fan and will always make the time for a swim.
A Conversation That Illuminated More Than a Career
Interviewed by her longtime friend and colleague, Lorri Sullivan, Eve Robinson’s Luminary Conversation was more than a retrospective of her incredible career—it was a window into a life steeped in purpose, community, and heart.
With over two decades of work in child welfare, early childhood education, advocacy, and abuse prevention, Eve’s career is as expansive as it is impactful. From her leadership at Montclair Community Pre-K, where she guided the school to national acclaim under the Strengthening Families Initiative, to her pivotal role in establishing the Family Network Center—which offered parenting education and counseling—Eve has long been a trailblazer in making families stronger and communities more resilient.
Her work also reached deep into public service, including her time with New York City’s Office of Child and Family Services as Director of Training and Staff Development, where she focused on improving the lives of children in foster and residential care.
No matter where her professional life has taken her, Eve has always been a strong advocate for collaboration and support of early childhood professionals.
A Legacy Born at the Kitchen Table
Beyond her professional accolades, what captivated attendees most was the story of how Eve became the woman she is—a story deeply rooted in her upbringing in Trenton, New Jersey.
Eve’s father, a beloved pediatrician, and her mother, a pioneering community advocate (one of the first women to serve on the Trenton Board of Education in the 1960s), planted the early seeds of service. Their home doubled as a medical practice and an open door to the community—a place where infants and toddlers passed through daily and no neighbor was turned away.
“There was always people around,” Eve shared with a smile, reflecting on her childhood. “We had a saying about my mother,” she added, “which was that anybody she met, she knew their life story.”
The Robinson family kitchen was not just a place for meals—it was a place for connection, storytelling, and healing. “There was always talk at the table about all of these issues they thought were important,” she shared. Eve even recalled returning from school to find their neighbor, a man with schizophrenia whom others ignored, sitting at the table, steaming mug in hand and chatting with her mother.
“No one would talk to him, no one,” Eve said, “and he would be sitting there having coffee with my mother, and she would be listening to everything he was saying.”
Carrying the Torch Forward
This spirit of inclusion, empathy, and quiet but persistent advocacy became Eve’s compass. She didn’t just learn about community care—she lived it. And she continues to live it in every boardroom, classroom, childcare center and conversation where she shows up.
As the Luminary Conversation ended, the message was clear: Eve Robinson is not only a leader—she is a lighthouse. Her story reminds us that transformative change often begins in the everyday moments—in coffee-fueled conversations at picnic tables and kitchen tables, in attentive listening, and in the courage to include those who are most often left out.
With deep roots and ever-growing wings, Eve has illuminated the path for so many—and in doing so, has ensured that countless others will find their way.
