About Michael Lawrence
Board Member - CapCityKids

Mr. Lawrence is an attorney who has practiced law in Austin for more than 30 years. He practices at Lawrence & Stenson Law, PLLC. The firm handles commercial transactions, general business and real estate, and civil litigation. Mr. Lawrence is active in civic affairs. He served for several years on the advisory Board of Directors for Goodwill Industries in Austin. He also served on the committee of the State Bar of Texas that oversees continuing legal education. He was a municipal judge in his home area of Rollingwood, a suburb of Austin, for three years. He is currently on the Board of Directors of several charitable organizations: CapCityKids, which is involved in supporting the education of homeless schoolchildren; A Spacious Place, which is involved in creating programs for fostering spirituality through the arts; and Help Clifford Help Kids, which supports Austin Youthworks, a charter school for at-risk schoolchildren. Mr. Lawrence is married, has three grown children, two grandsons and one granddaughter. He is a graduate of University of Texas undergraduate and law school and remains an ardent supporter of U.T. athletics, especially football and baseball, and he is a musician.

Was there a particular experience in your life that prepared you for leadership?
I have had the opportunity to meet and work with a diverse cross-section of people in different locales and activities. I have a broad perspective on the issues and circumstances that arise in people's lives, and techniques, systems and other methods that have been utilized, successfully and unsuccessfully in dealing with them.
What was the 'aha' moment that got you started in your current career/life of work?
Doing volunteer work making and distributing sandwiches in the Mobile Loaves and Fishes program. That experience was a springboard into my passion for service and volunteer work such as CapCityKids.
What is the one thing you want to tell the Austin community about your organization?
Our focus is on actual assistance provided one on one to the children. We measure our success on the life experiences of the kids and do not focus resources on building an institution.
What are you worst at and what do you hate to do? How are they different?
I have poor organizational and management skills and do not pay enough attention to details. I hate to try to teach somebody to do something that I can do quickly and correctly myself . They are a bit different in that delegating often means, to my surprise, that the work is better done when I don't do it myself.
What are you best at and what do you love to do? How are they different?
I am best at expression of ideas. I love to brainstorm. Brainstorming has a more prominent component of listening than does expression.
If you were trapped on a desert island, what would be in your survival kit?
iPad.
Do you want to "Keep Austin Weird" and if so, why?
Yes. To me, "weirdness" is the expression of our evaluation of the importance of diversity. I believe that since the diversity of experience at all levels -- personal, cultural, national, worldwide -- is inevitable, quality of life and even survival depends on the diversity of experience from which ideas and coping methods can be derived.
How long have you lived in Austin? What brought you here?
At this point, I have lived in Austin most of my life - all but four and one-half years since 1966, and some summers before that. I think that the culture of Austin has been compatible with my personal traits and preferences (education, music, social awareness), the climate is superior, and it is increasingly complicated and diverse enough to keep things interesting, to say the least.