Amy is a fellow Rotarian from the Georgetown Rotary Club and Executive Director of the Austin Community College Foundation. She spoke to us about Austin Community College (ACC) and the ACC Foundation. ACC was founded in 1973 and now services six counties, has 11 campuses and 70,000 plus students. They offer four bachelor's degrees – in Manufacturing Engineering Technology, Nursing, Software Development, and Cybersecurity. In creating these four programs, ACC looked at critical needs in the community it serves. ACC also has several incubators to foster the growth of small businesses, including a fashion incubator and a biosciences incubator. They also host a Center for Non-Profit Studies. One of ACC’s goals is to serve students where they are. For example, each campus now has a food pantry as ACC had discovered many of its students are food insecure. The demographics of the ACC student population mirrors the demographics of the community in that they are majority Hispanic student institution. They provide their students with many additional services such as computer labs, financial aid, money management programs, and a mental health center. ACC provides guided pathways for their students whether they have graduated from high school or are coming back to finish their education. Such pathways include technical certification programs such as the Tesla micro-certification. ACC tries to keep education affordable with their tuition being 70% lower compared to universities in the area. The ACC Foundation raises money to support ACC and its students. It was founded in 1991 and now has a $17 million endowment, which has provided $12 million in total scholarships. The Foundation also has a student emergency fund that has provided students with a total of $300,000 in emergency aid. Looking to the future, ACC’s recent bond package will provide for new programs, and new, renovated and expanded campuses. For more information go to www.austincc.edu.