The Patman Center prides itself on making civic leaders and lessons on democratic engagement accessible to the public. Each week, all Patman Center events, both the Renewing Democracy speaker series and the LBJ Conversations with Evan Smith speaker series, are open and free to all members of the public.
JC Dwyer is consultant based in Austin who helps nonprofits with their public policy advocacy and civic engagement. He’s very involved in the community‑currently, he’s volunteering with the childcare tax rate election that will be on the Travis County ballot in November. Dwyer attended several Patman Center events this fall.
“I’ve been engaged in civic stuff for a while, since 2018, and trying to rebuild it into my professional life too. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some professional development and expose myself to some new ideas,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer became interested in civic engagement in 2018, during what he calls, “the resistance election”. Prior to, he engaged with the community by hosting Nerd Nite, a lecture series happening on the east side. Dwyer isn’t from Austin originally, and he saw Nerd Nites as a way of getting plugged into his local community.
Dwyer found Patman Center events online through the Patman Center newsletter. He was interested in attending the Renewing Democracy Speaker Series, which is focused around campaigns this semester, because he’s working on pushing his clients to be more active during election cycles.
“I wanted to learn more about how campaigns work, so I could understand the mechanics of the decisions that candidates and their minders are making and what they’re thinking about during (the election cycle), Dwyer said. “Also, (The Patman Center) had great guest speakers.”
Throughout the semester, Dwyer has developed a bigger appreciation for the effort that goes into running a campaign. He also enjoys hearing about the behind-the-scenes work.
“It’s nice to see that as big and complicated as (campaigns) are, there’s no black magic here. Anyone can run for office, even if not everyone gets the chance,” Dwyer said.
Some of Dwyer’s favorite sessions have been Strategic Polling: Building Your Campaign’s Roadmap with Mike Baselice and Nancy Zdunkewicz and The Power of Information: Research on Campaigns with Ryan Micik and Joe Pounder. He also appreciates the bipartisanship of the speaker series‑most of the Renewing Democracy Speaker Series features both Republican and Democratic speakers paired together.
“(The Patman Center) has had a lot of good pairings of Republicans and Democrats, and they approach their work in very similar ways,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer has been able to use the skills he’s learned from the Renewing Democracy Speaker Series as he volunteers on a childcare campaign and prepares to serve on a task force for Austin’s 2026 bonds election.
“(The childcare campaign) is doing all the techniques that are talked about in class. It’s good to know the why’s behind the decisions that they’re making,” Dwyer said. “I’m just a volunteer, but it’s nice to know why I’m being sent to deliver signs, or why it matters that these nonprofits are letting their clients know about the measure.”
The last event of this fall’s Renewing Democracy Speaker Series will be on December 4, but the series will continue into the spring! Check out events like these and more on the Patman Center’s website, and sign up for our newsletter to hear about events first!