Community Engagement HonoreesOutstanding AlumniAscendant Alumni
2024 – Rep. Gina Hinojosa
2023 – Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm
2022 – Public School Districts
2020 – Jeff Thomas
2019 – Earl Maxwell
2018 – Clay Johnston
2017 – Ron Kessler
2016 – Bobby Jenkins
2015 – William Powers, Jr.
2014 – Carol Thompson
2013 – Gary Farmer
2012 – Charles Barnett
2011 – Martha Smiley
2010 – Neal Spelce
2009 – Will Wynn
2008 – Wilhelmina and Exalton Delco
2007 – Kelly White
2006 – Cindy Kozmetsky
2005 – Jesus Garza
2004 – Ronya Kozmetsky
2003 – Lynn and Tom Meredith
2002 – Neal Kocurek
The Honorary Alumni Award is given to an individual who is not a graduate of Leadership Austin. The selection is made on the basis of lifetime achievement of statesmanship and community service—which epitomizes the highest standards of integrity and servant leadership—while demonstrating a commitment to the core values of Leadership Austin: Equity, Relationships and Learning.
Evan Smith is a senior advisor at Emerson Collective, working closely with journalists and funders around the country to support the local news ecosystem. He’s also a Professor of Practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a course on the politics and issues of the election season.
He previously spent more than thirteen years at The Texas Tribune, which he co-founded and led as CEO, and nearly eighteen years at Texas Monthly, including nine years as Editor-in-Chief and a year as President.
Evan is the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations from coast to coast. He serves on the boards of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, the Austin Film Society, and the LBJ Foundation. A native of New York, he’s a graduate of Hamilton College, which awarded him an honorary degree in 2023, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, which inducted him into its Hall of Achievement in 2006.