Gus Garcia Awarded Lifetime Achievement

The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosted a house full of prominent community and business leaders at its 36th Annual Awards & Installation Banquet on February 20th at the Austin Hilton Hotel.

Opening the program and  welcoming over 900 guests was our Honorary Co-Chairs, Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade and Senator Kirk Watson.

Among our Recipients was Gustavo “Gus” Garcia who received the Hispanic Chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the first of its kind to be presented at the Annual Banquet.  The Hispanic Chamber is pleased to recognize Former Mayor Garcia for his outstanding contributions to the Hispanic Community, and for his leadership in Central Texas.

“I feel very good! The Chamber has been an association that I have be a part of for over many years, going back to the 70’s, back then I served as president of the board and I’m very proud of their accomplishments throughout the years,” stated Gus Garcia.

Garcia has been a major force in Austin politics and government for more than three decades. Garcia was a charter member of the 1967 Human Relations Commission during the Civil Rights movement. In 1972, Garcia became the first Hispanic elected to the Austin school board. He spent three terms on city council in the 1990s, and in 1994, Gus was the first City Council incumbent in the City’s history to run for re-election unopposed. He also served as a trustee of both the Austin Independent School District and Austin Community College from 1972-1978.

Among his many accomplishments, Garcia has been honored with the LULAC Award for Political Involvement & Education, 1992; Whitney M. Young, Jr. Service Award, Boy Scouts of America Capital Area Council, 1991; Hispanic of the Year, Austin Independent School District, 1986; Businessman of the Year, Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce, 1984; and Humanitarian Award, Martin Luther King Association, 1984.