As a teacher, he helped found Boston College's Leadership for Change graduate program, bringing a generation of leaders into the world of systems thinking. As a social entrepreneur, he helped develop many long-standing organizations, including the New England Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA).

Robert has worked with the cities of Providence, Albuquerque and Atlanta and the Island of Martha's Vineyard. In Providence, the focus has been on the city's creative and innovative economy, innovation in city government, entrepreneurship, and neighborhood local economy. He consulted to the City of Albuquerque on its economic plan fueled by entrepreneurs, artists, and community activists. In Atlanta, the focus was community building.

He has consulted to mayors, change agents, leaders, entrepreneurs—commercial, social and civic, community groups, and developers. Past clients have included Miles Pharmaceutical, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, National Alzheimer's Association, Harvard Pilgrim Health as well as numerous entrepreneurial businesses, universities, school districts, United Way's and YWCA's.

Leaver has shaped three major national or regional networks. In the early 1980's he served on the board of the Non-Profit Management Association and chaired its 1986 national conference on new visions and new forms for the civic sector. From 1989 to 1993, he served on the board of the New England Businesses for Social Responsibility - a regional trade association, which seeded the national trade association Business for Social Responsibility. He served as president for two years and chaired the 1993 regional conference. He convened the Entrepreneurship Forum of New England (EFNE), founded in 2001 as a professional guild for entrepreneurs, creators, investors and resource providers shaping a community for entrepreneurship in the southern New England region.

For five years in the early 70's, Leaver directed University Without Walls at Roger Williams College in Providence. It provided individualized, undergraduate learning for adults returning to college who wanted to contribute to their community and earn a degree. Inspired by the "learn by doing" practice of John Dewey, UWW was a national, progressive movement to move education out of the classroom into the community driven by the goals and interests of learners and the needs of a community. In the late 70's to early 80's, he served as senior consultant at A.L. Nellum Associates in Boston - a workforce development consultancy where he conceived and launched Arts Work—a three-year, national effort by the Department of Labor to further the artist's role as a shaper of places of work and of community.

He has taught psychology, human development, organizational theory and entrepreneurship at Providence College, Leslie, Goddard and Roger Williams. Since 1993, he has been on the faculty of Boston College's Leadership for Change - a yearlong graduate level, credit bearing, executive leadership program for change agents. He formerly facilitated the CEO Forum in the Center for Responsible Leadership at BC for three years.

He just finished editing City and Soul, a collection of 46 papers of James Hillman as part of his 11 volume Uniform Edition of the Writings of James Hillman. Spring Publications. 2006.

He is the writer and producer the The New Commons Papers...a series of pamphlets on the themes of 21st century organization and community building that will unfold over the next few years with some published. Titles include: The Commonwealth Organization; the Character of Place; The Next Economy and Entrepreneurship; The Leader as Designer, Artist, Storyteller and Agent of Change; Convening and Facilitating; Circle and Hierarchy; and the Practice of Change.

He has facilitated thousands of workshops and delivered numerous talks on leadership, organizations of the future, entrepreneurship, network building and community. Talks at trade associations include: Organizational Development Network, New England Business for Social Responsibility, World Future Society, National Head Start, National Timber Framers Guild and National Business Incubator Association.