Civic Health Project’s team members bring diverse leadership expertise from academia, finance, technology, and the non-profit sector. Collectively, we are dedicated to supporting and showcasing the most promising efforts to reduce affective polarization and improve collaboration across partisan divides.

Rob Romero, Founding Partner

Rob Romero co-founded the Civic Health Project following the 2016 presidential election, acknowledging the dangerous reality that increasing animosity and disdain between political factions not only undermines the capacity of our democratic process to yield cooperative and constructive leaders but also, in a more severe scenario, could threaten the very existence of a united nation. Rob is a passionate advocate for research, insights, and tools that help human behavior & biases, social media, and democracy to “play better” together, reducing the corrosive forces of polarization.

Rob is currently the CEO of Connective Capital, an investor in emerging growth companies. Prior to launching Connective, Rob held leadership roles in marketing and engineering at Cisco Systems and various tech startups. Rob earned his BA in Economics, BS in Electrical Engineering, and MS in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University.

Kristin Hansen, Executive Director

As the Executive Director of Civic Health Project, Kristin is dedicated to accelerating the efforts of academics and practitioners who seek to reduce polarization and improve civil discourse in our citizenry, politics, and media.

In addition to her role at Civic Health Project, Kristin serves on the advisory boards of AllSides, Business for America, and Listen First Project. She also serves as a year-round lecturer in Strategic Communications at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Prior to her current work in civil discourse, Kristin held senior executive roles at Intel, IBM, and multiple start-up software companies. She holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Policy Studies from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ann Reidy, Director of Strategic Initiatives

As Civic Health Project’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, Ann works to identify and amplify promising, scalable efforts to transform partisan conflict and dismantle the destructive “us versus them” dynamics that are fueling our current political crisis and tearing the social fabric of our country.
In addition to her work with the Civic Health Project, Ann has led the incubation of Bridge Entertainment Labs (formerly known as the Center for Entertainment & Civic Health), an initiative focused on inspiring storytelling that popularizes the practice of courageous and empathetic engagement across political and social divides. Ann is also the Founder and Director of American Pals, a national schools-based bridging initiative.
Ann brings leadership experience in academia, non-profit management, and secondary education to her work at Civic Health Project. She holds a BA in Literature from UC Santa Cruz and a PhD from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Bob Quinn, Partner

For more than 25 years Bob has held leadership positions in internet and mobile software development at companies ranging from IBM and Apple to a number of Silicon Valley startups, where his focus has been on AI and health technology.

Prior to his commercial work, Bob carried out research in the application of cognitive social psychology and decision analysis to public health policy at Harvard University. He holds a PhD in cognitive science from the University of Colorado and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Bob joined Civic Health Project with the goal of using his background in technology, social science and healthcare to help diagnose and treat our civic health challenges.

Sofía Politi, Research & Operations Assistant

As Civic Health Project’s Research & Operations Assistant, Sofia supports several operational activities and helps develop new strategic projects. At the present moment, she primarily works on improving our fundraising and communication efforts and promoting the adoption of SCIM (previously called PQ/BQ), an impact measurement tool for bridging interventions.

Sofía holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Government from Torcuato di Tella University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Prior to Civic Health Project, she was a research assistant on legislative behavior at her Alma Mater and worked at CIPPEC, a prestigious public policy think tank.

Cambria Findley-Grubb, Social Media & Web Marketing Manager

As the Social Media and Web Marketing Manager, Cambria amplifies the message of decreasing affective polarization through the organization’s social media and web presence.

Prior to Civic Health Project, Cambria worked to leverage community members in volunteerism and civic engagement through the American Red Cross and UNICEF USA. In addition, Cambria completed a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship in Nova Scotia, Canada, studying the impact of education policy on indigenous populations and examining issues of educational justice. Cambria holds a Triple BA in Political Science, Peace Studies, and Religious Studies from Chapman University, and a MA in Political Communication from the University of Florida.