Robin Lester is a Senior Executive, Consultant, Entrepreneur and Board Member with 30+ years of success in multiple industries (technology, medical device, healthcare, commercial real estate and sports marketing). Leveraging extensive experience connecting emerging growth and later stage companies with public and private capital for strategic opportunities, she is a valuable asset for companies preparing for sale/acquisition, public offerings and rapid scalable growth. She helps companies assess other options (such as buy-outs, re-organization, turnaround and Bankruptcy protection) and plan and implement corporate and crisis communications strategies and public relations initiatives (through understanding the need for each audience involved), corporate branding, and equity marketing.

Robin held C-level leadership positions for public companies (Sykes Enterprises and BREED Technologies), was Executive Director of the Florida Venture Forum (FVF), and was Vice President of The Bissell Companies.  She is now Managing Partner of two of her own firms, one of which is Florida Growth Partners (FGP), a consulting company that connects emerging growth companies with capital sources. FGP has attracted $17.8M+ in private equity investments to date. This follows Robin’s nine years as FVF’s Executive Director where she developed Early and Later State Capital conferences and programs attracting $2.6B in venture capital to fund Florida-based companies. 

Robin also branded and positioned a company for a successful IPO on NASDAQ, a move that tripled company in value on its first day of trading. She was a member of the team that successfully acquired and integrated 11 international companies, delivering enhanced shareholder value. She also led a NYSE exchange traded company with an extremely complex and leveraged capital structure into Bankruptcy protection. 

Robin holds a B.A. degree from Appalachian State University and an M.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A seasoned Board member, she currently serves as a Board member and corporate officer for the Appalachian State University Foundation, as a board member of The Tampa Bay Bowl in Tampa and as Chair of the Trustees and Emerita Board member of Junior Achievement of West Central Florida. She is a former Commissioner of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Planning Commission and ran for County Commission At-Large for Hillsborough County. She also served on the Boards of the Technological Research Development Authority in Melbourne, FL, the Tampa Bay Innovation Center in Largo, FL and the Foundation for the Carolinas.