Linda Young
Senior Advisor/Strategic Alliances

Linda Young, Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs at Austin Community College, has more than twenty-five years experience in higher education, including instruction, curriculum development, and administration, eleven of which has been with ACC.  Young graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science, from San Houston State University with a Master of Arts, and completed all coursework for the Ph.D. at Texas Women’s University.

Young has demonstrated expertise in grant and resource development, with more than $18 million in grant funding received through competitive grants over her career; and has a proven track record in coalition building and brokering collaborative solutions in both the public and private sector.  Young has worked with elected and appointed boards and served in a volunteer capacity in local, state and national organizations.

Young served in the Texas Office of Attorney General in the Research and Policy Division, and then was selected to serve as Executive Director of a new start-up state agency.  As CEO of the new agency, Young developed a statewide competitive grant program, awarding approximately $20 million in grants annually to local governmental agencies; established a statewide public information campaign that drew accolades nationally and internationally, and won first and second place trophies in the New York Festivals for film and print media.

Linda is a graduate of Leadership Texas, and also is a recipient of the Athena Award, a national women’s leadership award for outstanding community contribution through leadership and mentoring.  She serves on the board of the Manor Education Foundation, and just completed two years as president of the board, where one of her first duties was to receive a $1 million endowment for the foundation from Samsung.

Young has been a presenter and speaker for numerous national and international conferences, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Border Conference of Attorneys General of the US and Mexico, the national conference of the Council for Resource Development, and the National Conference of State Relations Professionals among others.  One of her most memorable professional moments was her invitation and participation as one of two invited Americans (and the only woman presenter) at a European conference of representatives of France, Germany, Spain, England, and Greece, hosted by the British Parliament.