PARSA MOTAHAR
TREASURER
Parsa Motahar is a sophomore at the UH Honors College. He is majoring in Nutrition with a minor in Chemistry. He plans to attend graduate school after obtaining his bachelor's degree. He enjoys being a Cougar Tutor because he believes it enhances students’ attitudes towards school. Outside of the organization, he enjoys skating, reading, and coding.
PARSA MOTAHAR
TREASURER
PARSA MOTAHAR
TREASURER
Parsa Motahar is a sophomore at the UH Honors College. He is majoring in Nutrition with a minor in Chemistry. He plans to attend graduate school after obtaining his bachelor's degree. He enjoys being a Cougar Tutor because he believes it enhances students’ attitudes towards school. Outside of the organization, he enjoys skating, reading, and coding.
PARSA MOTAHAR
TREASURER
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
PROJECTS
University of Texas at Austin
Texas Civic Impact Council
Austin, TX | Focus: Civic Entrepreneurship | [email protected]
Apply to the TCIC Student Fellowship
Our Focus
About TCIC:
The Texas Civic Impact Council (TCIC) is a cross-college council at UT Austin leading campus collaboration on community-impact projects. TCIC will be a bridge for students to connect ideas with action in an effort to lead student progress on city-wide issues!
Mission:
Embrace UT’s diversity by connecting colleges on campus to create nuanced solutions at the intersection of the arts, sciences, and humanities for Austin’s social issues
Vision:
Create a blueprint for UT students to actively involve in solving city-wide issues and shaping Austin’s future
Check out our 2020-21 project below! 2021-22 Applications are open now!
TCIC Student Fellowship
Learn about TCIC's role in Project Connect, a $7.1B investment in public transportation in Austin.
Description
The Texas Civic Impact Council is leading an exciting Student Fellowship for college students to support Project Connect, a $7.1 billion investment in public transportation in Austin! College students around Austin will engage with communities along future transit corridors to gather meaningful insight about affordable housing, displacement, and economic opportunities. These insights will ultimately inform the development of the city’s policies and principles for Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD) along key transit areas. All in all, TCIC is recruiting student talent to make an impact through our city-wide Student Fellowship and be a part of a generational opportunity to shape the future of our city.
The entire Project Connect program includes a zero-emissions fleet, new rail system that travels under downtown and an expanded bus system with more routes. The program is designed to improve access to essential jobs, health care and education –- making our communities more livable, equitable and sustainable.
As part of Project Connect, the City of Austin is working with the community to develop plans for ETOD along key Project Connect corridors. Traditional transit-oriented development, or TOD, is a way to prioritize tightly connected neighborhoods with a mix of residential and commercial uses around transit. However, some traditional TODs have become a victim of their own success, as new investment drives up rent and drives out long-time residents and businesses.
Typically, the affected communities include low-income families, people of color and households with limited or no access to private vehicles – the exact people who could benefit most from new transit. By focusing on ETOD, our Fellowship aims to reduce and prevent displacement, reverse traditional inequities, and create new economic opportunities and new housing for all income levels.
Mission
Incorporate the voices of low-income, diverse, and local Austin populations in Project Connect’s transit-oriented development design process with a focus on affordable housing and job opportunity
Check out our 'How?' and project progression below!
Our Progression
Step 1: Community Engagement
Step 2: Data Analysis
Step 3: Design
Community Engagement Fellows have 1 on 1 conversation with Austinites to understand community perspectives on affordable housing, job opportunity, and more
Host casual, open-forum, community events to deepen our connection with and understanding of local Austin communities
Data Fellows run statistical analysis on collected data to generate insights on community + socioeconomic trends
Design Fellows create a data-driven report detailing community perspectives on affordable housing, job opportunity, and more
How?
1. Student Fellowship Network (Applications open!)
We are offering three distinct Fellowships: Community Engagement, Data, and Design Fellowships. These fellowships provide meaningful avenues to serve Austin with trained experience. All are detailed below.
Community Engagement (CE) Fellows
Through this opportunity, students will interact with residents in target areas to understand their opinions and requests relating to affordable housing, job opportunities, and economic development. Find more information on our application page!
Data Fellows will be responsible for statistically organizing and generating trend data on insights collected by the CE Fellows. Find more information on our application page!
Design Fellows are responsible for putting together a written report that summarizes the findings to present to Capital Metro and city leaders. Find more information on our application page!
2. Community Events (Dates coming soon!)
We will host community meetings and participate in existing community events to connect with Austinites we weren’t able to reach through our CE Fellows program. These events will aim to hear the stories of local residents and strengthen grass-roots community connections.
3. Findings Report
After hearing the stories and lived experiences of residents, Design Fellows will review and organize the input collected from conversations with the community, conduct statistical analysis, and compile a summary report to deliver to Capital Metro and other stakeholders.
Learn more about Fellowship opportunities below
The Texas Civic Impact Council has launched a Student Fellowship network. There are three fellowships: Community Engagement, Data, and Design. These fellowships provide meaningful avenues to serve Austin and have been expanded on in greater detail below.
Eligibility: Active student from any of Austin’s higher education institutions.
Project Portfolio
The Team
Vaishnav Kuruvanka '22
Founder/McCombs Chair
Ruth Mewhinney '22
COLA Chair
Haley Rough '25
CNS Chair
Rakib Momin '25
McCombs Chair
Krista Gehlhausen '23
LBJ Chair
Lauren Rosa '23
Steve Hicks Chair
