Upcoming events

    • June 14, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712
    Register

    I Could Not Have Planned This

    On October 7, 2017, Carl came to Austin not under the best of circumstances. Our discussion will look at what happened between then and now... 

    About our speaker:

    Carl F. Hunter II, M.Div. received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia and his Master of Divinity Degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is also an ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Carl also brings with him over 20 years of experience in community organizing, organizational development, programmatic design, and project planning.

    In 2017, Carl was selected to be a Hogg Peer Policy Fellow and served during the 86th Session of the Texas Legislature. In 2019 he became the Executive Director of Building Promise USA (BPUSA), a mission focused non-profit direct service provider that is run, led and driven by individuals living with criminal records and family members directly impacted by incarceration. Under Carl’s leadership, BPUSA became the coordinating agency for reentry supportive services for the City of Austin in 2021. He served on the Board of Directors for Communities for Recovery (CFORR) and he is an active member of the Travis County Reentry Roundtable. Carl is also the principal of the Invictus Consulting Group LLC, which he founded in 2020. Carl has two children (Ashley & Isaiah); two grandchildren (Khloe & Jules) and a goddaughter (Candice). "Among all the things that I have accomplished in my lifetime, my greatest accomplishment is being a person in sustained recovery from substance use disorder. Without my personal recovery, none of the other accomplishments would matter or would have been possible."

    Agenda:

    6:50am - Coffee & Networking 

    7:10am - Breakfast Buffet

    7:25am - Introductions & Announcements

    7:50am - Speaker Introduction

    8:20am - Q&A

    8:30am - Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Directions and Parking

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • June 21, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712
    Register

    Workforce Development

    About Our Speaker:

    Courtney Arbour is the Director of the Texas Workforce Commission’s Workforce Development Division where she oversees an integrated workforce development system that provides employment and training activities for the state of Texas through 28 Workforce Development Boards and 180 Workforce Solutions Offices and hundreds of Adult Education and Literacy and Apprenticeship sites.  With approximately one billion in funding administered directly or sub-granted, the activities are targeted to upskilling workers and supporting connections between workers and Texas employers.

    Courtney currently serves on the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council, Texas’ National Semiconductor Centers Task Force, National Association of Workforce Boards Employment & Training Committee where she is co-chair of a subcommittee specializing in Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning.  Courtney is a Workforce Fellow with Results for America, where a group of state and local leaders from Texas are charting a path for the use of evidence-modeling in directing grant funds to achieve best outcomes.

    Agenda:

    6:50am - Coffee & Networking 

    7:10am - Breakfast Buffet

    7:25am - Introductions & Announcements

    7:50am - Speaker Introduction

    8:20am - Q&A

    8:30am - Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Directions and Parking

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • June 28, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712
    Register

    How Entrepreneurialism Shapes Austin's Unique Culture

    A look at the impact entrepreneurialism has had on our amazing culture in the past, how it continues to in the present and how it can in the future.  

    About our speaker:

    Kara has been working with entrepreneurs and small business owners for over 20 years, contributing to the success of numerous individuals and organizations through her experience of starting and running small companies of her own, as well as, her passion and education in culture, economics, social inequalities and systems theories. 

    Early in her career,  Kara created and taught personal and small business finance workshops to underage mothers who were in entrepreneur programs. Since then, she has built the Financial Empowerment programming at Goodwill Central Texas, provided trainings to the United Way, City of Austin and Travis County, facilitated numerous Women in Business and Women in Finance groups while working with entrepreneurs and small business owners to achieve their goals.  

    Her current business venture, Romanfield Enterprise Consulting, helps startups and small businesses with strategy, business plans, business finance, scaling, investor packages and more.  She is working on her Thesis to complete a master’s degree in Community Development and has an undergraduate degree in Advocacy Anthropology with a Minor in Social Inequalities.

    Agenda:

    6:50am - Coffee & Networking 

    7:10am - Breakfast Buffet

    7:25am - Introductions & Announcements

    7:50am - Speaker Introduction

    8:20am - Q&A

    8:30am - Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Directions and Parking

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • July 05, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712

    Happy Birthday America!

    Happy Independence Day! We won't be meeting July 5th, but have a full lineup of stimulating speakers right into the Fall, come visit soon.

    Is there a person or organization you'd like to speak at MBC? Fill out this form and we'll try to set that up!

    • July 12, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712
    Register

    The African American Leadership Institute (AALI): Addressing a critical gap for AustinCulture

    The African American Leadership Institute (AALI) is a program strategically designed to address the following issues that are unique to Austin:

    1) Black flight – per U.S. Census data, the Black population in Austin has declined consistently over the past 45 years, distinguishing Austin is the only large urban city where the Black population is decreasing as the overall population increases.

    2) Employer retention – for years, major Central Texas employers have cited the issue of retention of Black professionals, stating that recruitment is not an issue, yet retaining Black talent continues as an unresolved challenge.

    3) The Black community in Greater Austin has grown increasingly fragmented and distanced due to gentrification and urban sprawl, causing a lack of connectedness, distancing from access to infrastructure and services, and, ultimately, leading members of this community to seek other places to live and thrive, where a Black community presence is more prominent.

    These three issues are symbiotic, and AALI addresses all three by creating a hub for connection of Black professionals and leaders – connecting them to each other and the rest of Greater Austin.

    Further, in a community-led survey process to understand the Drivers Contributing to the Decline of the Black Population in Austin, TX, conducted in collaboration with Measure, an unprecedented survey of 375 Black community members across the Greater Austin area revealed that lack of belonging rivals affordability as a top reason why Black people leave the region. As AALI was intentionally designed to address this issue, we are proud to share that AALI 2021 end-of-course survey results confirmed that 100% of inaugural Fellows affirmed that AALI helped to increase their sense of connection to the Black community – and 94% felt increased connection to the overall Greater Austin community. Approximately one-third of the inaugural Fellows stated that they had contemplated leaving Austin, and AALI compelled them to remain in the area..  

    About our speaker:

    BiNi has over 25 years working with and developing highly effective programs, systems and organizations to benefit the community — efforts which have been recognized and studied for best practices by agencies such as Texas State University, Stanford Graduate School of Business, SEDL, Texas Education Agency (TEA), Texas Dept of Transportation, US Dept of Education, and Colin and Alma Powell’s America’s Promise Alliance. She has over 25 years of business administration and financial management experience, for agencies ranging from 1 to 12,000 employees. 

    As CEO of 212 Catalysts, BiNi currently works with all types of agencies, large and small, to help them improve their mission-critical business operations and support the success of collaborative community development efforts across Texas and beyond. Recent examples include: the launch of the African American Leadership Institute (AALI); assisting with systems establishment or improvement for agencies such as Austin ISD, Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, People’s Community Clinic, African American Youth Harvest Foundation, and various start-ups; and support for collaborative initiatives such as the Black Men’s Health Clinic, Maternal Health Equity Collaborative, Prenatal Safe Zone network via St. David’s Foundation, TEA’s ADSY PEP summer learning initiative, and a new Restorative Justice initiative involving the Travis County District Attorney’s office and multiple community and national partners. BiNi has been a member of the National Career Pathways Network, helped launch the Austin Opportunity Youth Collaborative, and facilitated the Ready by 21 Coalition on behalf of Workforce Solutions – Capital Area Workforce Board – which included hosting the National Ready by 21 Conference in Austin in 2017. She is also spearheading the AALI Policy Work Group which is focused on identifying and uplifting solutions to maximize workforce productivity for families needing affordable childcare. Beyond these efforts, BiNi and the 212 Catalysts team have assisted nonprofit organizations to secure over $7 million since 2019, translating to over 100,000 families reached with vital services and resources.

    BiNi has served as a guest speaker, mentor and host to students from the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at The University of Texas at Austin, UT McCombs School of Business, UT Project SERVE, UT CONNECT, Texas State University, Concordia University, K-12 students, and numerous internship and service learning programs. She has presented at dozens of regional, statewide and national conferences and summits over the last 16 years, including at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and US Dept of Education 21st CCLC conferences. 

    BiNi was a member of the University of Texas Women’s Volleyball team and is now also a mother living in amazement of her beautiful 7-year-old daughter.

    Agenda:

    6:50am - Coffee & Networking 

    7:10am - Breakfast Buffet

    7:25am - Introductions & Announcements

    7:50am - Speaker Introduction

    8:20am - Q&A

    8:30am - Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Directions and Parking

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • July 19, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712
    Register

    Crushing Your Job with ChatGPT

    Details to follow

    Agenda:

    6:50am - Coffee & Networking 

    7:10am - Breakfast Buffet

    7:25am - Introductions & Announcements

    7:50am - Speaker Introduction

    8:20am - Q&A

    8:30am - Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Directions and Parking

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • July 26, 2023
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • UT Club, 2108 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin TX 78712
    Register

    Supporting Women Philanthropy and the Collective Giving Movement