Spotlights

Students and faculty of the Austin Area Sustainability Indicators (A2SI) project and local organization Go Austin, Vamos Austin (GAVA) hope that this detailed, zip-code-level data can inform elected officials and empower community members to start meaningful conversations about policies affecting their health and wellbeing.  

The CONNECT program has announced the 18 organizations and 21 student fellows participating in the spring 2022 cohort.

The rainwaters in Dove Springs were rising, the clock ticking as flood water rose on residents' property– one, two, three inches. 

The program, called CONNECT, is a collaboration between the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston. CONNECT began at the LBJ School in 2018. 

The CONNECT program algorithm significantly improves the efficiency of its matching process and helping build capacity within the program itself as it continues to expand.  

The RGK Center hosted its first high school intern this past school year from the Practicum in Business Management course at Austin High School, taught by Center portfolio alum Nick Lebo.  

In her Philanthropy and Social Change course series, RGK Center fellow and associate adjunct faculty member Dr. Becky Lentz explores with her students the question: “How has philanthropy been used to address root causes rather than just the symptoms of systemic and structural inequality?” 

RGK Center faculty and staff are collaborating with Texas Water Foundation to develop an interactive map of the Texas water systems landscape.

Pionero Philanthropy and graduate students with the CONNECT program worked together to help put these organizations on the map-- an interactive map used to bridge the gap between donors and information seekers, strengthen research in the sector, and help facilitate collaboration among nonprofits.  

RGK Center assistant professor Ji Ma recently developed a state-of-the-art machine-learning classifier that can automate the coding process for nonprofits, ultimately remapping the U.S. nonprofit sector.