Austin Community College District (ACC) will be in the spotlight during a special panel session at SXSW EDU this year. ACC Chancellor Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart will join Workforce Solutions’ Tamara Atkinson and Mark Sherry as well as Austin Mayor Kirk Watson for a special session on employability and career development. 

How Austin Builds Community Building Roads, Rail & Ports will explore how communities can use education and workforce development to address the joint challenges of affordability and infrastructure needs.

Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
Time: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown | Salon H

Together, panelists will share information about the vision for the future Austin Infrastructure Academy. According to the panel description: Austin is creating economic mobility through education that will transform the regional infrastructure of Central Texas with a first-of-its-kind Infrastructure Academy. Guests are encouraged to attend the session to find out how to design sustainable career pathways that foster family-supporting jobs through sector partnerships and how they can engage employers, educators, and elected leaders to get it done.

The Austin City Council voted in March 2024 to launch the Academy. It’s part of a $25 billion investment in mobility infrastructure which includes Project Connect, a planned airport expansion, IH-35 reconstruction, and other infrastructure projects. The Academy will debut at ACC’s Riverside Campus. 

“ACC is the No. 1 workforce trainer in our region. It’s our purpose and mission to create educational and training programs that can lead Central Texans into well-paying, promising careers. We’re proud to join the city and the entire coalition of partners to support the Austin Infrastructure Academy,“ said ACC Chancellor Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart at the time of the announcement. “We’re starting first at our Riverside Campus where we have the facilities we need to upskill and train students immediately in programs like welding, construction, heavy-machinery operation, electric fleet maintenance, and HVAC. But this is just the beginning. Our vision is to create a permanent home base for the Academy at our land in Southeast Travis County.”

To learn more about the vision and future of the Academy, guests are invited to attend the panel session. It’s part of 2025 Crossover Day. Attendance is open to all SXSW EDU registrants as well as all SXSW registrants. To learn more, visit the SXSW website.

Tags: Infrastructure Academy, Kirk Watson, Mark Sherry, SXSW, SXSW EDU, WorkForce Solutions