According to its Web site, Sagacious Partners does more than offer theories and strategies. The firm executes. It collaborates with regional government, higher education, and business leaders to develop robust innovation–based economies and provides the implementation support to achieve lasting success.

Katherine Robinson is a project manager with Sagacious Partners and works on client projects for EngenuitySC, the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative, and New Carolina.

One of Robinson’s responsibilities for EngenuitySC is managing the Science Cafe, a regular evening gathering of locals who sit for a presentation by a guest speaker scientist and segue into conversations with the speaker over the course of a light supper and libations. For fiscal year 2009, over 350 people attended Science Cafe events, while the email list grew from 1,300 to 1,625. Two sample speakers and their topics were Dr. Finis Southworth on “Nuclear’s Role in Future Hydrogen Economy” and Columbia’s Dr. Burke Dial on “Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion Technology... Brain Surgery without an Incision.”

Another responsibility is her upcoming conference. The EngenuitySC Knowledge Economy Leadership Conference is Wednesday, October 28, 5:30–8 pm at 701 Whaley Street.

Visit engenuitysc.com to register.

Robinson was born in Columbia. Her late father, William Akers Stanback Robinson, was a bankruptcy attorney. Her mother at the time had her master’s degree in English literature. A current resident in Wales Garden, Robinson’s mother just finished her dissertation to earn a PhD in philosophy at USC. Robinson’s older brother by two years is Christopher Robinson, who teaches sociology at Midlands Tech.

Robinson at tended kindergarten and every grade through the 12th at Heathwood Hall, almost all of which was overseen by Headmaster Robert Shirley. Her interest in ballet and tap evolved into a love for soccer around age eight. She played varsity soccer for Heathwood, and now she coaches soccer for the Downtown Y among 15– year–olds at Owens Field.

Her soccer led her to distance running, and she focused on the 5K distance, winning a state meet. Later in her college freshman year, Robinson ran a half– marathon in Raleigh, N.C. She finished at 1:41.

Her senior year at Heathwood required an exhibition of mastery as part of a one–year project. Robinson developed her expertise in DNA fingerprinting.

After four years of Latin and after graduation from Heathwood, Robinson enrolled at Duke University in Durham, N.C., where she took another three years of Latin and began her fluency in Italian. The track team took her as a walk–on. She majored in biology and minored in chemistry, focusing on forensic science. In the summer after her freshman year and also after her sophomore year, Robinson worked for the Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry at USC. For the summer after her junior year, Robinson spent extended time in Italy as part of a USC program, still graduating from Duke the following spring.

After graduation, Robinson stayed on the Duke campus to work in conference services, which involved her with more than 50 programs in all areas of interest from the academic to the athletic.

In the fall of 2005, Robinson went to work for Columbia’s Junior Achievement, where she stayed until January 2008. She was attending a USC town– and–gown offering called Citizens School for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, and there she met Neil McLean, founding head of Sagacious Partners and executive director of EngenuitySC. McLean needed a project coordinator, and since Jan. 2008, Robinson has been a project coordinator for Sagacious Partners, outsourcing to EngenuitySC and others.

As part of her avocation, Robinson is a volun- teer for the Palmetto Health Foundation. She is a high school tutor in chemistry and physics. She works with the local arts commission on their New Audience Road Show, attracting interest from 23– 39–year–olds. She is on the board at COR (Columbia Opportunity Resource), and she is their co–chair of the Promote Columbia Initiative.

An active alumna, Robinson is chair of the Duke Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee, where she helps match prospective students with available local alumni for interviews.

Robinson spent part of this past summer with the Duke Young Alumni on a trip to China.