A New Chapter Begins: Celebrating Robin Rettmer’s Tenure with Amity Foundation
Robin Rettmer has been a practitioner in the service of others for 47 years. Ask anyone and they will tell you, “Robin is all that”. And it’s true! Before coming to Amity, at the age of 24, she started working on the management team with troubled adolescents, aged 13-16, coming out of detention centers. She worked “the wagon train”, a giant traveling caravan that crisscrossed the country with horses pulling wagons and supplies. These journeys, lasting up to 8 months, would travel on secondary highways, with 70 faculty and 70 horses and 70 teens, moving at 3 miles per hour. One trip took three months just to get through the state of Texas. They set up 22’ teepees every night and broke them down every morning. Robin spent eight years and 14,000 miles on the road.
At the end of the wagon train, the teens were able to return home. It was during this time when Robin’s passion for family reconciliation and reunification work began. When not on the wagon train trail, she would visit family’s homes and host circles, taking the care and time to prepare families for the kids’ return. She became a welcome and safe force in their lives.
During this time Naya Arbiter and Robin met and began a friendship. Naya, who could always spot talent, invited Robin to visit Circle Tree Ranch in Tucson and immediately Robin was hooked, impressed by the level and quality of care for students. Liking the idea of not being on the road, Robin joined Amity 38 years ago. And over the next many years, Robin and Naya became best friends and together with Rod and others, helped create the standard of excellence for Amity.
In addition to her jobs, Robin’s calm, strong and loving demeanor was perfect for the countless roles in circles, seminars, workshops, and retreats. Watching Robin do the transformational work in a circle is something incredible to see. She has a gift for this. Robin also led and wrote hundreds of ceremonies whether it was for a faculty wedding, grieving the loss of someone in the community, celebrating graduations, doing directional ceremonies or simply running a community circle. Additionally, over the decades, Robin and Naya set up and transformed hundreds of thousands of square feet of just ordinary space into beautiful, extraordinary campuses, group rooms, guest houses, and public areas for thousands of students.
Robin’s 38-year tenure at Amity saw many different jobs for her in both Tucson and California including:
Director of the Private Tuition Department
Director of Enrollment
Director of Family Services, where she conducted weekly family circles and quarterly weekend workshops with as many as 60 participants at a time
Managed Circle Tree Ranch
Executive Director of Amity, Inc.
Executive Director of a successful Fundraising Board
Helped to open the Donovan Prison Project
Director of the Day Reporting Center (The Amity Community Center), an outpatient project with Pima County Probation. This ended up being so popular and busy; they were open from 10 am-10 pm, 7 days per week. They opened an Amity coffee shop and held concerts for the public.
Participated as an active member of the Board of Directors, which she still does
Chief Operating Officer, where she served brilliantly for 15 year
Creator and co-host of faculty workshops with Rod Mullen. There have been 19 of these since May 2021, each unique and tailor made. Nearly 140 faculty have participated thus far.
On a personal note, Robin has been beloved in the Amity community as long as she has graced us with her company. She has the unique combination of being a rock while adding levity and femininity to everything she touches. She is smart and inclusive. She is kind, competent and patient. And she is so much fun. To laugh with Robin is a precious moment.
Robin truly understands Community. Over the decades, she has helped transform the original, male dominated Therapeutic Community into a gentler more comprehensive version that is inclusive of women, children, families, minorities, and others historically ignored, and share it with grace on a local, national and global level.
Looking toward the future, Robin still has a lot to share. She hopes to continue faculty workshops, which play a major role in enhancing faculty growth both personally and professionally. She would like to continue being involved in family services and faculty training.