Steve Jackobs
Mr. Steve Jackobs was elected as Trustee for Place 6 in November 2022. His term ends in November 2028.
Steve is passionate about education and opportunity. He served from 1998 to 2022 as the founding Executive Director of Capital IDEA, a Central Texas non-profit that supports low-income adults to succeed at ACC and enter good careers in nursing, tech, and other high-value fields. Before then he worked as a community organizer in Massachusetts, Florida, and San Antonio, and then on special projects across Texas for the Texas Industrial Areas Foundation.
He grew up in a family whose parents valued education, but themselves had limited opportunities. His father started university during the Depression, but could not continue. He had a lifelong career as a pipefitter, a skilled trade acquired through five rigorous years of apprenticeship. Steve’s mother aspired to become a teacher but never had the opportunity to attend college. She finally realized a portion of her dream late in life at a local two-year institution in Superior, Wisconsin. Throughout their lives they worked hard to support and inspire their five children. Collectively they earned two PhDs and three Master’s degrees. Steve graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in Social Studies in 1979. He earned a Master’s degree in Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex in England in 1980.
Significant recognitions include Rotary International Graduate Fellow in 1980, Central Texas Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, Robert W. Hughes Philanthropic Leader in 2016, and Dream Come True Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
He and his wife Betty Weed have called Texas home since 1989. Their daughter Faith is a PhD student at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Steve relaxes by running, cycling, reading, and model railroading. He is a founding member of the Austin Model Railway Society.
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