For the Benson-Owens family, Leadership Austin is a family affair. Maurice Benson (Essential 20 – 1999) started the trend. His sister, Pamela Benson-Owens, joined him the following year as a curriculum adviser for the Essential program. Pam stayed on as a faculty member for Emerge when it was created in 2007. She is currently on the Leadership Austin board of directors, serving as chair of the Development Committee.
Pam’s brother-in-law, Tony Owens, is an alumnus of Essential 26 – 2005 and her sister-in-law, Darlene Owens, graduated from Essential 28 – 2007. Pam’s husband, Arlyn Owens, was a member of Essential 36 – 2015. As Pam says, “The family that learns together, leads together.”
We were lucky enough to have all five members of the Benson-Owens family at the Leadership Austin office last week. They took a few minutes to share their Leadership Austin story for the 40 Stories in 40 Days project.
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Benson-Owenses! We can’t wait to see that next generation start coming through the program!
Want to start your own Leadership Austin family tradition? Let’s do it! Applications for both Emerge and Essential are due June 30. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to learn about cohort information sessions, application writing workshops and application review sessions.
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