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Welcome New Members (June 2019)
We are proud to introduce our newest ULI members! The following people joined ULI during June 2019:
ULI Austin 2019 Vision Award Winner Announced
July 8, 2019
ULI Austin is pleased to announce that Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University and co-lead for the Mayor’s Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities, has been named the recipient of its prestigious annual Vision Award. The ULI Austin Vision Award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her lifetime within the Austin region.
Serving as the first female president and CEO of the historic Huston-Tillotson University, Austin’s oldest institution of higher learning and only historically black college and university (HBCU), Dr. Pierce Burnette has proven to be a successful leader in the field of education and beyond. Through her civic engagement, she also plays an integral role in matters impacting Austin’s growing population, including the issue of systemic and institutional racial inequities.
The Vision Award will be presented to Dr. Pierce Burnette at ULI Austin’s 2019 Impact Awards event, to be held on August 27, 2019 at the ZACH Theatre. Recipients of other competitive built project and individual award categories will also be recognized.
View Press Release for more information.
The ULI Austin Vision Award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her lifetime within the Austin region. Winners are selected annually by the ULI Austin Governance Committee and represent a diverse range of sectors, including real estate, finance, public service, not-for-profit and education. Previous recipients of the award include Gary Farmer of Heritage Title (2018), Senator Kirk Watson (2017), Alan Graham of Mobile Loaves & Fishes (2016) and Tom Stacy of CapRidge Partners (2015).
Colette Pierce Burnette, Ed.D.
Huston-Tillotson University
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University and a board member of the Mayor’s Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities, has been named the recipient of its prestigious annual Vision Award.
Ranking as the first female president and CEO of the historic Huston-Tillotson University, Austin’s oldest institution of higher learning and only historically black college and university (HBCU), Dr. Pierce Burnette has proven to be a successful educational leader. Through her civic involvement, she also plays an integral role in matters impacting Austin’s growing population, including the issue of systemic and institutional racial inequities.
“It is a true honor to recognize Colette with the Vision Award, the highest honor one can receive from ULI Austin, in recognition of her years of services in the fields of both higher education and engineering. Her energy, drive and passion to improve the lives of her students, peers and those throughout the Central Texas community is an inspiration to us all, and this award is our way of expressing our organization’s heartfelt appreciation.”
Paulette Gibbins
Executive Director, ULI Austin
With the Mayor’s Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities, Dr. Pierce Burnette joined other leaders from the business, education and criminal justice sectors to address institutional racism in Austin. She and the task force focused their work in five key areas – education; real estate and housing; health; finance, banking and Industry; and civil and criminal justice. She and Austin ISD Superintendent, Dr. Paul Cruz, led the effort in collaboration with over 200 community members to develop recommendations that would attempt to create transparency in law enforcement, provide funding for housing inequalities, and provide a path to review Austin’s governmental policies that may perpetuate the systemic inequities.
Dr. Pierce Burnette has received a number of awards for her services, including being named an Innovator by the New Leaders Council – Austin Chapter, an Austin Fab Five by the Seedling Foundation, and a Top 25 Woman in the Nation in Higher Education by a leading higher education magazine, DIVERSE. For her many years of dedicated service, she has also been recognized with the United States Army Distinguished Civilian Volunteer Service Medal Award, Thurgood Marshall Foundation Chief Information Officer of the Year Award, Outstanding Student Advocate Award, Inductee into the Austin Women’s Hall of Fame, Dayton Business Journal Chief Fiscal Officer of the Year Award, and the National Diversity Council Glass Ceiling Award, among others.
“Under the leadership of Dr. Pierce Burnette, Huston-Tillotson is being transformed, and her influence extends far beyond that campus, As co-chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities, she has helped us engage in a difficult and necessary community-wide conversation. And she has done that with great courage, honesty, grace and humility. I am proud of ULI for recognizing the importance of Dr. Pierce Burnette’s work in our community.”
Jay Hailey
Local attorney and member of ULI Austin’s Governance Committee
Dr. Pierce Burnette is active in numerous other Central Texas civic causes, serving on the boards of the Girl Scouts of Central Texas, Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce and Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Nationally, she serves on The Ohio State University’s College of Engineering Advisory Committee and the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church Board. Dr. Pierce Burnette is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Links, Inc., the National Society of Black Engineers, and Texnikoi Engineering Honorary.
In addition to sharing her rewarding life with her Huston-Tillotson family, she is the wife of Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Dr. Daarel Burnette, and the mother of Daarel II of Washington, D.C. and Daana of New York.
The Vision Award will be presented to Dr. Pierce Burnette at ULI Austin’s 2019 Impact Awards event, to be held on August 27 at the ZACH Theatre. Recipients of other competitive built project and individual award categories will also be recognized. For more information regarding sponsorship, registration and award entry and nomination process, CLICK HERE.