Sabina Carlson Robillard - Media & Tributes
BOSTON GLOBE: ‘A citizen of justice, a citizen of peace,’ Sabina Carlson Robillard dies at 34
Remembering Sabina Robillard - Tufts - Feinstein International CenterTufts – Feinstein International Center
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Subject: An important message about a member of our community
(Edited for brevity and privacy)
Dear members of the Friedman School Community,
It is with a heavy heart that I write tonight to inform you about the passing of a dear member of our community, Sabina Robillard. Sabina was in the process of completing her PhD with us at the Friedman School and she was active and engaged in many aspects of our community. Details about a memorial service are forthcoming as well as more information about opportunities to honor her memory. Tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. we will gather in Behrakis Auditorium to create space in honor of Sabina’s memory before the Thanksgiving dinner event.
Remembering Sabina Robillard
Sabina Carlson Robillard passed away on November 16, 2022, after a long battle with cancer. Much of her life revolved around Tufts: She did her bachelor’s degree in Community Health, Peace and Justice graduating in 2010. Later she did a master’s degree in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition at the Friedman School (2015) and then returned to the Friedman School to work on her PhD degree. In between she completed a master’s degree in Applied Community Change and Peacebuilding from Future Generations Graduate School and worked for the International Organization on Migration in Haiti and Guinea, CDA Collaborative Learning, and several local organizations in Haiti.
In 2010, she was one of the Tufts students responding with the organization Ushahidi to the earthquake in Haiti where, in many ways, she discovered her life’s calling. Appalled at the way in which the international community took charge of the earthquake response and effectively barred local Haitian actors from the efforts of the international response, Sabina became a passionate advocate for the voices of the affected population and the affected country in humanitarian disasters—ideals that would later come to be known as “accountability to affected populations” and localization. In 2017, she decided to make localization the focus of her PhD research, with Haiti as her primary case study. Between 2017 and 2022 she completed case studies on localization in places as diverse as Haiti, South Sudan, Iraq, Colombia, and Sulawesi (Indonesia).
Also in 2017, she was appointed as the student coordinator for the Master of Arts in Humanitarian Assistance (MAHA) program, and served five different cohorts of MAHA students, as their advisor, compatriot, “helpdesk,” and friend. MAHA alumni around the world remember Sabina for her calm demeanor, her ever-helpful responses, and her willingness to be supportive or just listen when students needed a friendly ear.
Sabina helped found the Humanitarian Women’s Network, to promote humanitarian women’s voices and priorities for reforming the humanitarian industry, which has grown to several thousand members around the world. She also was a partner with her husband, Louino Robillard, in founding a number of community-driven organizations in Haiti, like Kombit Soley Leve, Pak Nan Ginen, and a huge movement to build a community library in City Soleil with an exemplary model of accountability.
Sabina was a dedicated and loving mother to her two daughters she shared with her husband Robi, Ana and Dayana. She often brought her high energy and charming little one Ana to classes and outings, where she was adored by all. She loved and co-parented Dayana with Robi and Dayana’s mother (Beldor) with whom she had a warm relationship.
Beginning in 2020-21, she was the lead researcher on a study by the Feinstein International Center on the localization of humanitarian action and the decolonization of the humanitarian sector for the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance of USAID. That study was completed earlier this year. Less than a month before her passing, the Bureau issued a new policy on their commitment to localization and building support for locally led humanitarian action. This new policy repeatedly cites the results of the study that Sabina led—a fitting tribute to all the work that she had done in this field.
The Feinstein International Center and the whole Friedman and Tufts community mourns her passing and will miss her greatly.
We hope you will keep Sabina’s family in your thoughts in the days ahead.
Chris
Christina D. Economos, Ph.D.
Dean ad interim
Professor, New balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Tufts University
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https://twitter.com/cdalearning/status/1594761352974843907?s=20&t=M6oLDktXSS3cqvThVmCW_g
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