{"id":52342,"date":"2025-09-15T11:06:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T16:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=52342"},"modified":"2025-09-16T15:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:04:37","slug":"meet-michelle-mccarty-recipient-of-accs-2025-social-impact-innovation-alumni-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/15\/meet-michelle-mccarty-recipient-of-accs-2025-social-impact-innovation-alumni-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Michelle McCarty: Recipient of ACC’s 2025 Social Impact & Innovation Alumni Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Austin Community College District (ACC) is proud to celebrate Michelle McCarty<\/strong> as the recipient of the 2025 Social Impact & Innovation Award at this year\u2019s Alumni Achievement Awards.<\/p>\n

The Alumni Achievement Awards honor graduates who embody the College\u2019s mission and values. The Social Impact & Innovation Award recognizes alumni who are creating meaningful change through forward-thinking solutions that improve lives and strengthen communities. View, download, and share photos from this year\u2019s event here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Innovating with Compassion<\/strong>
<\/strong>McCarty is being honored for her pioneering work as an Aging in Place Specialist and End-of-Life Doula. She combines clinical expertise with compassionate care to support individuals and families navigating life\u2019s most vulnerable moments. She co-founded ReInventing Independence, a company dedicated to helping people remain independent and dignified as they age, and leads Solace and Sage, an organization that expands access to end-of-life services.<\/p>\n

Her approach is informed by a diverse educational journey. She holds both a bachelor\u2019s in Psychology from Texas A&M University and a master\u2019s in School Psychology from Texas State University. After earning these degrees, McCarty saw an opportunity to build a career that focused on easing the preparation for the end of life. She recognized that the skills and credentials she was missing could be achieved through ACC\u2019s Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. So, she enrolled at ACC and went on to earn her Associate of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy Assistant. <\/p>\n

Leader and Advocate for ACC<\/strong>
<\/strong>McCarty remains deeply connected to ACC as an active member of the Workforce and Healthcare Advisory Council, where she advocates for aligning college programs with the evolving needs of healthcare and workforce development. She also contributes to the occupational therapy field through a white paper sharing evidence-based practices to improve end-of-life care.<\/p>\n

A Vision for Dignity in Care<\/strong>
<\/strong>Through her leadership and innovation, McCarty is shaping new models of care that emphasize dignity, compassion, and holistic support. To learn more about all the alumni recognized at the 2025 Alumni Achievement Awards, visit alumni.austincc.edu\/alumni-awards<\/a>. To join ACC\u2019s Alumni network, visit austincc.edu\/alumni<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austin Community College District (ACC) is proud to celebrate Michelle McCarty as the recipient of the 2025 Social Impact & Innovation Award at this year\u2019s Alumni Achievement Awards. The Alumni Achievement Awards honor graduates who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":52344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,17,19,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-community","category-news-and-announcements","category-students-and-alumni","category-updates"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}