Bobby William Austin
Main profile
Bobby William Austin is President of the Public Kinship Institute, which focuses on sharing his ideas and philosophy about America’s interconnectedness. He has also been the founding president of a foundation, vice president of a university, author and editor of a policy journal. He is the author of several books, articles, and speeches.
One of Austin's contributions to social justice and education was his role as the director of the WK Kellogg Foundation’s National Task Force on African-American Men and Boys, chaired by Ambassador Andrew Young. He edited the Task Force’s seminal 1996 report, Repairing the Breach: Key Ways to Support Family Life, Reclaim Our Streets and Rebuild Civil Society in America's Communities. This report outlined key strategies to address societal issues affecting African-American men and boys. Based on this report, he established the first major philanthropic and social infrastructure network for American men and boys, which saw the participation of 30 national organizations and 17,000 individuals. His efforts were recognized when he was named one of 50 individuals who changed African American education. His work with the Legacy Task Force was highlighted at the Harvard School of Education’s 2014 conference Revisiting Repairing the Breach.
He has appeared on Ted X regarding his concept of Public Kinship. He presented the inaugural lecture at the James McGregor Burns Institute at the Moller Institute at Cambridge University. He presented speeches on peace at the United Nations, on immigration policy at the Hiroshima Peace Conference in Hiroshima, Japan, and on American Common Culture at the Salzburg Seminar. Austin was the Thomas Merton fellow at the Thomas Merton Center in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the Mahatma MK Gandhi Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He is an advisory member of the Southern Reconstruction Foundation and a Resident Fellow of the Institute of Politics Policy and History at the University of the District of Columbia.
Bobby Austin's contributions have not gone unnoticed. He is included in History Makers, which documents the achievements of significant African Americans. He is a member of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller. His receipt of the highly-prized WK Kellogg Leadership Fellowship further underscores his impressive achievements and the recognition he has received for his work.
We have more in common when we seek to understand each other.