Rashad Robinson appeared at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs’ Toni Rembe Auditorium in San Francisco on July 29 for a discussion built around his new book, “From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter and Win,” according to the organization’s event listing. Greg Dalton, vice president of Commonwealth Club World Affairs, led the conversation.
The event page described Robinson as a social justice leader and strategist with more than two decades of experience across major movements, including work on LGBTQ rights and racial justice initiatives. It noted his history confronting technology companies, the criminal justice system and corporate and political leadership, along with his role helping organize resistance efforts following the 2016 election. The program was recorded, with video and audio made available afterward.
Robinson’s conversation with Dalton centered on the argument that gives the book its title: that visibility, what Robinson calls presence, is often mistaken for power, the actual leverage to change institutional rules and decisions. The book, released July 28 through One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House, frames that distinction as a practical roadmap rather than a memoir, built from Robinson’s own history directing advocacy work at GLAAD and leading Color Of Change for close to 14 years.
The San Francisco stop followed appearances built around the same argument elsewhere on the tour. Robinson discussed similar ground in a July episode of “Freedom Table” hosted by Alicia Garza, and has traced the framework’s origins back to his childhood in a Long Island town profiled around the book’s release. Robinson continues to advise foundations and movement organizations on applying the same principles, work that informed the practical tools built into the book’s later chapters. The Commonwealth Club has archived the full conversation for members and the public who could not attend the Embarcadero venue in person.