Austin—Get engaged in this Start up Hub—Non-profit style
What is well-known to people in Austin, Texas and throughout the world is that Austin is a business start up hub. We have the ingredients that cultivate a positive ecosystem for bringing ideas to commercialization: e.g. favorable business climate, low taxes, strong universities with high level talent, a positive outlook and a can-do spirit.
What is less well known is that Austin also has a culture and climate that has also created a non-profit start up culture. According to Cause IQ, there are 13,750 non-profit organizations in the greater Austin areas including Austin, Georgetown, Round Rock and San Marcos employing 86,330 people with revenue of more than $11 billion and assets of $35 billion. There are lots of stories of Austinites coming together with solutions to make our community better. Austin American Statesman city columnist Michael Barnes has covered many of these start up stories in the paper, in his three volume books Indelible Austin (Waterloo Press available on Amazon or at Book People) and you can also listen to his podcast, Austin Found, with radio personality JB Hager. Michael’s beat is people, places, culture and history of Austin. For those new-to-Austin, following Michael can bring you up to speed on our beloved city quickly.
One example of our Austin ingenuity in solving social issues is the founding of the non-profit Tree Folks (include link https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2018/08/15/how-treefolks-turned-one-sapling-into-28-million-austin-area-trees/9967150007/ non-profit. )Neighbors gathered during the winter solstice celebration in 1988 and decided to take personal responsibility for the climate crisis by each planting a tree. They decided this simple idea could be done by a large group of people in our community. Today, Tree Folks has engaged thousands of volunteers to plant more than 2.8 million trees in Central Texas.
Another example of neighbors helping neighbors is the convening of six women dubbed the Kitchen Table Six by philanthropist and author Rebecca Powers to create the women’s collective giving foundation, Impact Austin. https://www.impactaustin.org/about. Since 2003, Impact Austin has invested $7.87 million in Central Texas. This includes 103 high-impact grants benefiting 83 nonprofits and their clients through 2815 female philanthropists.
In fact our beloved Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail (Town Lake to native Austinites) was originally a collective project spearheaded by Leslie “Les” Gage, a former city council member and friend Carolyn Curtis who helped helm the Citizens’ Committee for a More Beautiful Town Lake from 1971-1976. This was aided by support from former Mayor Roy Butler and his wife Ann Showers Butler, after whom the trail was named. Another critical citizen, Roberta Reed Crenshaw, committed financial support, ranch hands and legal help. The Austin Chapter of the Association of Women in Construction also provided important support. Many of these important local leaders do credit Lady Bird Johnson’s focus and her “walking the trail with us” to emphasize use of use and ease of maintenance.
This entrepreneurial spirit, the positive outlook for the future, the individualism to create a collective solution for a brighter tomorrow is embedded in the Texas culture and nowhere more evident than in Austin.
So, if you are considering relocating to Austin or if you have just moved here, embrace the unique Austin brand of the Texas culture. This is one of the reasons you are attracted to this community. Get involved in being part of the positive future of our area. Our team is happy to help get you connected into parts of our community that fit your interests and availability. Reach out and let us help you get to know your new neighbors—we can help you find a good volunteering opportunity for your family, get connected to non-profit service learning, find a new accounting firm to help you navigate our no income tax state or find a resource to update your estate plan. There will be a lot of differences from your old hometown, your family budget, your investment strategy and we can help make that transition smooth.