"My passion is kids. They can't change the school system, they can't cure diseases that afflict them and they can't mentor themselves. Somebody who really cares has to do that for them. We have to fight for children."

— Joseph E. Robert, Jr., Chairman, Fight For Children

Joseph E. Robert, Jr., the Chairman and CEO of the J.E. Robert Companies (JER), founded Fight For Children in 1990 as way to help underprivileged children and youth gain access to high quality educational and health care services. Because of his own struggles and experiences while growing up, Mr. Robert has always felt a sense of compassion and empathy for kids who lack the resources and opportunities they need to become successful. Fight For Children is his way of reaching out to the young people of Washington, DC.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Robert founded JER in 1981. It has become one of the world’s largest private commercial real estate investment and asset management firms, successfully investing more than $25 billion in more than 10,000 assets. JER’s operations and investments stretch throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico and Latin America.

Mr. Robert's philanthropic commitments are equally as ambitious. In addition to founding and serving as Chairman of Fight For Children, he is the Chairman of the Washington Scholarship Fund and was Chairman of the successful $300 million Comprehensive Campaign at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, which resulted in the building of the Joseph E. Robert, Jr. Center for Surgical Care at the Children’s National Medical Center.

Mr. Robert is a member of the board of the following organizations:

The International Advisory Board of EuroHypo AG, Institute for International Economics, National Health Museum, Atlantic Council of the United States, Lehman Brothers Private Equity Advisory Board, Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics of the University of California, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, the National Geographic Society, the Kennedy Center, and he is Chairman of Business Executives for National Security (BENS).

Mr. Robert is a member of the World Economic Forum, Horatio Alger Association, The Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., The Bretton Woods Committee, and the Federal City Council.

Mr. Robert lives in McLean, Virginia and has two sons, Luke, who is six years old, and Joe, 27, a former sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.