Founder, Austin Involved and Director of Community Engagement, I Live Here, I Give Here.

Graduate, Leadership Austin Emerge Class, 2011.

In leadership terms, I am a died-in-the-wool evangelist.  Once an idea takes hold in me, I put blood, sweat and tears into gathering everyone around me to turn that idea into reality.  Sustainable growth in a community demands many types of leaders—doers, relators, connectors, idea people and evangelists—working together to serve the needs of our community.

The Leadership Austin EMERGE Class of 2011 allowed me to connect with leaders from every sector of Austin, each of whom embodied a key facet of leadership. The Class opened my eyes to the different talents, perspectives and ideas that need to come together to make an impact.

The merger of Austin Involved with I Live Here I Give Here, merges two community leaders, each representing different leadership facets, to create one organization that can build paths to community giving across Austin. And now that the idea is stuck in my head, you can bet I will be working to make sure everyone knows about it!

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Courtney's Bio:

Courtney plays a dual-role of Director of Community Engagement at I Live Here, I Give Here, as well as Founder of Austin Involved, where connecting young professionals to meaningful philanthropic opportunities is her passion.  Courtney beat melanoma at age 26 and survived brain surgery at 31, and the causes dearest to her heart are cancer awareness, humane treatment of animals, and children aging out of foster care. 

She has previously held development and marketing positions at Planet Cancer and the Houston Humane Society, and has consulted on programs for LIVESTRONG and the Austin Community Foundation.  A recovering actress, Courtney spent 8 years in New York City studying theatre at NYU and producing television segments for a public relations firm.  Courtney created and produced live interview segments with Cal Ripken, Jr., Christina Applegate, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and the training department of NASA.

Courtney currently serves on the board of directors for the Animal Trustees of Austin and the Coats for Kids committee of the Junior League.  Her time is also spent on the advisory boards of GivingCity magazine and the mayor’s Cities of Service project.