Council Member Alison Alter

03/06/2026

Yesterday, Austin City Hall was full of women leaders from across our community.

We gathered to celebrate International Women’s Day, observed globally on March 8.

We started this annual gathering at City Hall in 2022 when I was serving as Mayor Pro Tem. The goal was simple: bring together women from across city government and our community to recognize leadership, build connections, and celebrate progress.

It was wonderful to see the tradition continue this year, and to reconnect with former colleagues, meet new staff, and celebrate the many women helping shape Austin’s future.

Grateful to Council Members Paige Ellis for City Council District 8, Councilwoman Vanessa Fuentes, Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, and Krista Laine, along with City staff who hosted this year’s gathering and continue to carry the tradition forward.

City of Austin Government

01/20/2026

I invite you to join Raising Travis County on Monday, January 26 for a virtual Community Town Hall! Learn about how our community is working to expand access to affordable child care and out‐of‐school time programs —
and how you can get involved. Language interpretation available.

Register: https://lnkd.in/gq7pdhwn

Travis County, Texas - Government
United Way for Greater Austin
Andy Roddick Foundation

12/12/2025

Congratulations to Austin's amazing City Auditor, Corrie Stokes, on her retirement and Distinguished Service Award!

Corrie is an intelligent, competent, and caring public servant who dedicated decades to improving the City of Austin. She is an outstanding mentor and always elevates her staff. I know she will be missed.

I was fortunate to work closely with Corrie when I chaired the Council's Audit and Finance Committee. Corrie, I learned so much from you and I am very proud of the many projects we collaborated on over the years. All the best in your new adventures!

Jason Hadavi, Austin's new auditor, you have big shoes to fill!

Austin City Auditor

10/09/2025

This week we took important steps to improve access to quality childcare in Travis County.

>> We funded 1000 new scholarships for children currently on the Workforce Solutions’ waitlist for care, with 800 of these slots supporting kids aged 0-3. These will be filled starting in January.

>> We committed to pay our providers the true cost of quality care. As of Sept.1, 2025, Raising Travis County will cover the gap between the state-funded care reimbursements and the Travis County child care quality rates.

>> Thanks to pro bono work donated by GSD&M our voter-approved children’s fund will now be known as RAISING TRAVIS COUNTY.

This name captures our community’s commitment to:

Raising childcare quality by investing in our teachers and providers.
Raising wages for people who care for our children.
Raising the bar for what Travis County families can expect and achieve.

And why? Because when children thrive, Travis County rises.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area
Travis County, Texas - Government
Travis County Judge Andy Brown
Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea
Commissioner Ann
Andy Roddick Foundation
United Way for Greater Austin
and many more

08/13/2025

I am a big believer in lifelong learning and so was grateful to return to the Harvard Kennedy School for the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program. For 3 weeks in July I joined 70 peers in a carefully curated ecosystem designed to challenge how we exercise leadership and provide us with tools and support to be more effective. We benefited from the insights and guidance of some amazing faculty and each other.

If this program is of interest to you, message me and let’s talk! You can also learn more at https://www.hks.harvard.edu/educational-programs/executive-education/senior-executives-state-and-local-government.

I highly recommend this program if you are seeking to look at problems in new ways or if you want to grow as a public servant. And yes, there are fellowships available. I was fortunate myself to be selected as a Chuck Cahn Fellow.

Harvard University
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education

06/30/2025

Last week I was proud to join the 4th Annual Gun Violence Prevention Summit where our community came together to reflect on the challenge of gun violence, to learn about the progress we have made, and to celebrate the change makers who are disrupting violence every day. As a community, we have taken real and important steps to build an effective gun violence prevention eco-system since we held our first summit in June of 2022. A few highlights include our Community Violence Interruption work led by ATX Peace (a collaboration between Life Anew Restorative Justice and Jail to Jobs under the umbrella of City of Austin Government's Office of Violence Prevention), our Harvest Trauma Recovery Center led by African American Youth Harvest Foundation and Travis County, Texas - Government's hospital intervention program. At this year’s summit we heard powerful stories from some young people touched by gun violence which remind us of the importance of this work and the humanity to be cherished in each of us.

Texas Gun Sense
Moms Demand Action - TX
Lynn Boswell, Austin ISD Trustee, District 5
Austin ISD
Moms Demand Action - TX
Austin Public Health
Council Member José Velásquez

06/12/2025

Congratulations to our new Impact Austin community partners - Austin Sunshine Camps, Black Mamas Village - ATX, Breakthrough Central Texas, Good Work Austin, Hope Clinic, and Open Door Preschools - Austin! This year Impact Austin granted over $300,000 to support these amazing organizations that work tirelessly and creatively every day to positively shape the lives of Central Texans.

New this year Impact Austin pursued a trust-based philanthropy approach and all of these funds are UNRESTRICTED. This means each organization can invest their grant in the most effective way to meet their mission. Such dollars are often hard for nonprofits to secure, but provide critical flexibility and breathing room to best serve their clients.

I have been a proud member of Impact Austin for 12 years. If you are interested in joining this women's collective giving organization or have questions about trust-based philanthropy, feel free to message me.

We're thrilled to introduce our 2025 Community Partners, each receiving unrestricted grants: Austin Sunshine Camps, Black Mamas Village-ATX, Breakthrough Central Texas, Good Work Austin, Hope Clinic Austin, and Open Door Preschools. We're so honored to partner with each of you!

https://bit.ly/4kHR9jS

06/11/2025

I'm excited to see the process and the beautiful murals!

06/05/2025

In my tradition, when someone passes we say "May her memory be for a blessing." In the case of my friend and former Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman we see her blessings all around the city. I was fortunate to learn from her directly and by her example. She cared deeply about Austin and the people who live here. She embodied empathy and understood how to wed her years of experience together with active listening. Jackie, you will be missed.

Jackie Goodman, 79, who served on the Austin City Council for 12 years starting in 1993, passed away on Tuesday. She had been hospitalized but had come home before her death. She served as Mayor Pro Tem for several years…

05/22/2025

Are you interested in growing as a leader, meeting lifelong friends, and learning about the big challenges and opportunities facing Central Texas? Then I invite you to consider Leadership Austin.

I learned about Leadership Austin from my realtor and soon to be friend Laurie Loew, the founder of Give Realty, even before I officially moved to Austin. Laurie invited me to apply for the Leadership Austin Essentials Program and the experience profoundly shaped my new life in Austin. I made amazing friends who support and challenge me personally and professionally and I developed the knowledge and courage to run for office.

Joining Leadership Austin was one of the best decisions I made when I moved to Austin and I want to encourage you to apply for the Leadership Austin Essential or Emerge programs. Applications are due June 12th and you can learn more here - - https://leadershipaustin.org/programs-training/choose-a-program/ Scholarships are available thanks to the generosity of many. Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions.

It has been 10 years since I graduated from the Best Class Ever 2015 and we still love to pose for photos.

05/17/2025

Proud Mom here: Congratulations to Natalie Suri on her graduation from UW-Madison!