Upcoming Events

    • May 01, 2024
    • 6:58 AM - 6:59 AM
    • Chez Zee American Bistro, 5406 Balcones Dr, Austin TX 78731


    For the 2nd time in our 40 year history, MBC is on the move, to Chez Zee (just off MoPac in northwest Austin). Better food, easier parking, but the same hot coffee, warm people, and cool speakers.

    Also, please note that the "early bird" registration deadline is now Sunday 11:59pm, all prices increase $5 after that.


    • May 01, 2024
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • Chez Zee, 5406 Balcones Dr, Austin TX 78731 **NEW VENUE**
    Register

    Register by midnight SUNDAY, then come to Chez Zee Wednesday for...

    Loving Students to Success: Reimagining Higher Education

    ACC is launching a new approach to student success focused on student created values and ensuring college is affordable.

    About our speaker:

    Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart currently serves as Chancellor for Austin Community College District.  He previously served as the President of Amarillo College which was named as the winner of the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.  Through his leadership, Amarillo College was named the Leah Meyer Austin Award winner, the highest honor within the Achieving the Dream network.  Russell’s leadership is focused on improving student success through systemic and cultural change centered on one word: love.  

    In his career, he developed the systemic Culture of Caring targeting removal of poverty barriers, scaling accelerated learning options, and ensuring employees intentionally love students to success.  With love as the center of reform, Amarillo College developed the systemic Culture of Caring targeting removal of poverty barriers that was featured in The Atlantic (June 2018) by Marcella Bombardieri and in the documentary on AmazonPrime, The Antidote, from Oscar Nominated and Emmy Award winning directors Kahane Cooperman and John Hoffman. 

    Russell’s leadership is focused on improving student success through systemic and cultural change by empowering the student voice in redesigning higher education.  Dr. Lowery-Hart was selected into the inaugural class of the Aspen Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence, a rigorous executive leadership program led by the Aspen Institute and the Stanford Educational Leadership Initiative.  He served as the chair for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Undergraduate Education Advisory Committee charged with evaluating and redesigning the state of Texas general education requirements. 

    In his career, he created several institution-wide initiatives targeting a systemic approach to poverty, a common reader program, international travel programs for first year students, curricular reform, instructional improvement, advising and academic orientation expansions, first year seminars, service-learning across the curriculum, and partnership development across campus “silos.”

    Dr. Lowery-Hart previously served as Vice-President of Academic Affairs for Amarillo College. He was named the National Council of Instructional Administrators Academic Leader of the Year for 2014. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio University; M.A. Texas Tech University; and, B.S. from West Texas State University. 

    While his calling is education reform, his passion is family.  His wife, Tara, sons Christopher and Campbell, daughter, Cadence, fill his life with beauty and joy.

    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 Note New Location!

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • May 08, 2024
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • Chez Zee, 5406 Balcones Dr, Austin TX 78731 **NEW VENUE**
    Register

    Register by midnight SUNDAY, then come to Chez Zee Wednesday for...

    From Conflict to Coexistence: Improving Human-Wildlife Interactions

    How do we respect other species and systems that our lives are inextricably intertwined with? I will discuss how and where we interact with wildlife. How our actions may benefit us but not wildlife. Further, what steps you can take to promote human-wildlife coexistence?

    About our speaker:

    Paula Pebsworth has studied non-human primates in Madagascar, Uganda, South Africa, India, and Saudi Arabia. Her primary research interests are human- primate coexistence and self-medicative behavior. She earned her doctorate from Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute in 2012. She conducted her dissertation research in the Western Cape of South Africa. There, she studied geophagy (aka soil-eating), spatial ecology, and human-baboon conflict. Subsequently, Paula had a post-doctorate in India at the National Institute of Studies.

    In Himachal Pradesh, she studied human-macaque conflict and the efficacy of non-lethal mitigation strategies to reduce crop foraging. In 2022, Paula coordinated a population estimation and environmental impact assessment of Hamadryas baboons in Saudi Arabia. Further, she recommended short and long- term strategies to the Saudi government, which would potentially reduce human- Hamadryas baboon conflict.

    Paula is an independent researcher and will continue to work on projects that improve human-primate coexistence using various strategies. 

    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 Note New Location!

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • May 08, 2024
    • 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM
    • Chez Zee after our meeting

    Mr. Texas

    a novel by Lawrence Wright. Plan to join fellow MBC members for a lively discussion in a relaxed atmosphere on the 7th floor.

    8:30 at Chez Zee after our May 8th meeting.

    • May 15, 2024
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • Chez Zee, 5406 Balcones Dr, Austin TX 78731 **NEW VENUE**
    Register

    Register by midnight SUNDAY, then come to Chez Zee Wednesday for...

    Texas Politics 2024

    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 Note New Location!

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • May 19, 2024
    • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
    • coming soon

    It's Our 40th Anniversary!

    Details to follow!

    • May 22, 2024
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • Chez Zee, 5406 Balcones Dr, Austin TX 78731 **NEW VENUE**
    Register

    Register by midnight SUNDAY, then come to Chez Zee Wednesday for...

    The State of Downtown Austin

    Downtown Austin remains a place where folks want to visit and a neighborhood where people want to work, live and invest. Learn about downtown's most recent market trends and more during this presentation.

    About our speaker:

    Dewitt “De” Peart became the President and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance in February 2015. The Downtown Alliance is engaged in dozens of projects and issues that contribute to the quality development, mobility, safety, cleanliness, and attractiveness of downtown Austin for investors, businesses, employees, residents, and visitors. He guides the Downtown Alliance’s vision and strategy, ensures the organization’s fiscal health, and represents a board of directors focused on the creating, preserving and enhancing the vibe, value and vitality of downtown Austin. 

    Prior to taking the helm at the Downtown Alliance, De served as executive vice president for economic development and public affairs at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, president of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, and president of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. 

    For two decades, De held various positions at real estate development companies where he provided oversight for development projects including land-use planning, master planning, asset management, construction, property management, marketing and leasing. 

    His development of nearly seven million square feet of buildings and expertise in brownfield and urban redevelopment distinguish De’s career in real estate development.

    A native of Pittsburgh, De has a master’s degree in public administration from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Robert Morris University.  He is married to Jane, and they have two adult sons.

    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 Note New Location!

    Breakfast Fees & Policy

    • May 29, 2024
    • 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
    • Chez Zee American Bistro, 5406 Balcones Dr, Austin TX 78731

    Our speakers are always engaging, informative, and insightful (and often inciteful). Our members are too! Is there a person or organization you'd like to hear from at MBC? Nominate a speaker and we'll try to set that up.

    Upcoming Speakers in May and June

    • Sgt Deon Cockrell, Texas Department of Public Safety
    • Julie Hutchinson, Stress to Flow in 3 Easy Steps
    • Joell Sullivan McNew, Safehorns.org
    • Sean Winn, Plastic Reduction Project
    • Bill Aleshire, Project Connect



Thank You to our MBC Premiere Corporate Partners

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