Lisa Robertson is the Executive Director for Hope Bridge, a non-profit that works to support our local foster care system through prevention - by supporting vulnerable single moms who are at risk of Child Welfare involvement, through intervention - by wrapping around foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers with support and encouragement, and through restoration - by engaging youth at risk of aging out of the foster care system—and those who already have, with a healthy community and connection to support. After nearly a decade of foster parenting, Lisa has gained years of experience in advocacy, biological family relationship preservation, and the preventative work of keeping families together. She is married to J.J. and they have four children together through birth and adoption.
A western PA native, Lisa moved to Lake Township in 2010 after her Hartville-born-and-raised husband, JJ Robertson, brought her to Ohio. She began to grow roots here immediately as this small town felt much like home, only with more opportunities and resources. As the wife of a local small business owner (Robertson Concrete LLC), Lisa quickly learned the culture of this area where small businesses are valued, and they support and root for each other.
As a founding member of Foster Our Community, Lisa connected to the Chamber seeing it as an extension of the local business culture that she had already experienced among small business owners. When Hope Bridge was born and she stepped in as Director, she knew becoming a member of the Chamber was crucial for the organization.
Lisa started with The Christ Foundation in 2021, working in program development and assisting their team in brainstorming how to step into the foster care crisis and better support vulnerable families in our community. When Hope Bridge was launched, and after being at home with her kids for over seven years, Lisa offered to temporarily fill the role of Director to keep momentum going until another was found to fill the role. Three years later she is grateful God knew better. “Since then, God has provided an entire team of passionate individuals that I get to work with every day and has taken our collective passion in the space and turned it into the work that Hope Bridge is doing today,” noted Lisa.
Lisa views her work with Hope Bridge first as a passion. To work in the space of foster care - caring for vulnerable single moms, foster families, and the children in their care, for youth who are aging out of a broken system with nothing is truly humbling and a gift. “It's nothing I would have ever picked for myself when I was choosing a career as a college student, but thankfully God knows better and goes before us to write our story; We must simply follow Him,” she told us.
The Lake Township Chamber is delighted to name Lisa our Outstanding Young Professional for 2024!