Career paths: From English major to attorney, and then company president

How does an English major become the founding president of a healthcare nonprofit? For Robin Gelburd ‘79, the answer wasn’t a set path — but a series of unexpected turns, hard work and trusting the process. At Harpur Edge’s Lunch and Learn event, Gelburd shared how her journey from journalism to law to healthcare leadership proved one key lesson: every experience connects, even when the dots aren’t quite lined up yet.

The featured speaker during the Feb. 28 event in the Bartle Library, Gelburd was the founding president of FAIR Health, a nonprofit healthcare data organization where she worked for 15 years before retiring in December 2024. At the event, she shared her career path journey and shared tips for success in the professional world.

During her time as a Binghamton University undergraduate, Gelburd majored in English and served as the managing editor of Pipe Dream, the campus newspaper. She also worked with a producer from WSKG radio and later studied abroad in London.

These extracurriculars helped shape her career path — a journey that was anything but linear. Gelburd explained to students that after completing her bachelor’s degree, she was drawn to journalism due to her experiences at Pipe Dream and WSKG. However, her goals changed.

“There were so many issues that were important to me at the time and I realized I would much prefer to be an advocate, so I went to law school,” she said.

She went on to work in the Fourth Circuit in the Federal Court of Appeals in Baltimore, then later a commercial litigation firm in New York.

After some time, Gelburd realized that her passions were not quite aligning with commercial litigation; after all, she wanted to do advocacy work. What could get her there and how could she figure out what exactly that would be? The answer was networking. A former litigation colleague of hers moved to a health law firm and asked if she’d like to join them — a simple, yet life-changing interaction that continued the progression of her career.

Networking isn’t easy to do alone; that’s why Harpur Edge has platforms like Connection Builder and Mentor Match to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to connect with Binghamton alumni and professionals in various fields.

“When one door closes, cast yourself to the wind. But do a little homework about it before you do,” Gelburd said.

Networking also led her to her role at FAIR Health, where she helped guide the company’s hiring process. Hiring managers appreciate an applicant’s genuine interest and knowledge of the company, she told students and advised them to research a company and people in it thoroughly before a job interview.

Gelburd also shared her thoughts on how students can use their skills from undergraduate majors in unexpected ways. The communication skills she gained as an English major were invaluable to careers that weren’t necessarily related to literature, she noted.

“I think English majors usually have above-average communication skills, both in writing and speaking,” she said. “I cannot tell you how important those skills are in any field.”

An English major, Megan Ward is a marketing intern for Harpur Edge.