About
Our mission is to empower liberal arts students to pair empathy with an opportunity to develop entrepreneurship, collaboration, and communication skills.
Every spring semester, we challenge a cohort of 150+ freshmen Liberal Arts Honors students to think about "serving others" in a new light – through the lens of social innovation. We ask students to examine their interests and skills and use them to help the Austin community in a way that is purposeful, sustainable, and personal.
Envision Austin was founded in 2014 by Nina Ho (Class of '16) and Jocelyn Matyas (Class of '13). They created the challenge to address what they saw as untapped potential in liberal arts education.
The Envision Austin Challenge gives $2,000 worth of grants to the top three teams. The initiative is supported by LAH director, Dr. Larry Carver.
Sarah Fischer
2015 Lead Organizer
Sarah is a junior double major in international relations and journalism. Within international relations, her focus is on security studies – specifically refugee studies, conflict resolution and post-conflict studies. She help founded Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance, the winning team of Envision Austin 2014.
Jocelyn Matyas
Founder, 2014 Lead Organizer
Jocelyn received her master's degree in Globalisation, Business, and Development from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and is a University of Texas at Austin alumna with a honors degree in Economics. She has experience in social enterprise and development and has presented as a guest lecturer at UT and the University of Sussex in the U.K.
Nina Ho
Founder, 2014 Lead Organizer
A senior double major in advertising and French, Nina has been featured in Business Insider's “17 Incredibly Impressive Students At UT” and Austin Monthly's "20 in their 20s" – an article about "20-somethings who are changing the city." She is interested in the intersection of design, social impact, and entrepreneurship.
David Bemporad
2016 Lead Organizer
David is a sophomore economics major. He help founded Students Expanding Austin Literacy, the winning team of Envision Austin 2015. SEAL is now a registered 501(c) non-profit that works with elementary students through partnerships with Communities in Schools and Austin Partners in Education.