Kathleen Robbins

After earning an engineering degree from the United States Air Force Academy and an MBA from California State University Sacramento, Kathleen Robbins spent more than 20 years in the corporate world with Procter & Gamble, Wang Laboratories, Computer Sciences Corporation and Cellular One.

Upon completing her Doctor of Ministry in 2003, Kathleen created an international organization focused on using technology to create micro enterprises that provide sustainable sources of income in rural areas.

Now focused on the bigger challenge of developing reliable, sustainable and cost-effective energy in Haiti, Dr. Robbins co-founded the Jatropha Pepinye, a non-profit nursery dedicated to the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas, a non-edible perennial plant whose seeds produce high yields of oil that can be refined into biodiesel and other saleable products. Thriving on dry, marginal land, the plant is perfectly suited for the thousands of deforested hectares in Haiti which are too poor to grow food and can play an important role in economic development and poverty reduction.

Jatropha Pepinye provides Haitian farmers with the technical support they need through the research and assistance of Haitian agronomists and to ensure the small farmer is a beneficiary in the biofuels revolution.