Guest post from Essential Class of 2016 participant Matt Pope, reflecting on the February class day on Education. Matt is the RAISEup Texas Senior Program Director at E3 Alliance. “We don’t need to reform public schools…we need to transform them!” exclaimed Michael McKie, Superintendent of Schools in Hays…
By: Elizabeth McGuire The spotlight is not Nahid Khataw’s natural territory, but the gentle leader made peace with the attention once she found her true calling. Khataw, a Pakistan native who moved to Austin in her early 20s, has become an important voice in the…
By: Elizabeth McGuire Suki Steinhauser’s business card should probably read Servant Leader instead of CEO. From her first job as a Peace Corps volunteer to her current role with Communities in Schools of Central Texas, Suki has made a career out of giving back to…
By Elizabeth McGuire In the fourth installment of our Growing Divide series, this month’s Engage Breakfast covered the topic of equality in wages and skills. Panelists included Greg Casar, District 4 Council Member, City of Austin; Steve Jackobs, Executive Director, Capital IDEA; and Brian Kelsey,…
By Elizabeth McGuire This month’s Engage Breakfast brought education equality to the spotlight. Our panelists discussed the disparities of our city’s K-12 public school system, specifically covering topics of local funding, regional planning, public policy and community involvement. Panelists included Kathie Tovo, District 9 Council…
As we extend our special five-part Engage Breakfast series, The Growing Divide, we continue to discuss the elements that make Austin strong, yet trends that are creating divisions. There are layers and layers to this theme, so we are spending the several months peeling back…
Leadership Austin recently bid farewell to longtime employee Jeff Olmeda, but we couldn’t let him leave without gleaning a last bit of wisdom from the staffer whose coworkers say he brought exceptional judgment and commonsense to the organization. We also wanted to know more about…
With the election only weeks away (and early voting starting on Monday) the discussion of the two large bond packages is a critical topic in our community. At this week’s Leadership Austin Engage Breakfast we heard an in-depth and often spirited debate from leaders invested…