'I met my destiny here': Advertising veteran Roy Spence is 2022 Austinite of the Year
Advertising industry veteran Roy Spence, who has also led a number of local charitable and nonprofit efforts, is the Austin Chamber of Commerce's 2022 Austinite of the Year.
Spence and his partners founded advertising powerhouse GSD&M in 1971, just after graduating from the University of Texas. The agency has worked with brands such as Southwest Airlines, the PGA Tour, Walmart and the U.S. Air Force.
GSD&M is known for creating the "Don't Mess with Texas" campaign for the Texas Department of Transportation, which aimed to reduce littering on Texas roadways.
"My roots are in Brownwood, Texas, and I will be forever grateful for where I came from. In the late ❜60s Austin became my home,” Spence said.
“I met my wife of 44 years, Mary Couri Spence, and we raised our family in Austin. I met my GS&DM business partners and best friends of over 50 years in Austin. And thanks to the people of Austin, I met my destiny here. I am beyond humbled and honored to receive the Austinite of the Year Award right here in my home of Austin, Texas," he said.
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Spence remains chairman of GSD&M and also focuses his time on two entities that he founded and for which serves as CEO — the Purpose Institute and the nonprofit Make it Movement.
In addition, Spence has collaborated to create public service announcements in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey.
“Roy is an incredible entrepreneur that has a dynamic way of merging his talents and passion into helping others,” said Fred Heldenfels, chair of the Austin chamber's board of directors. “Some of the biggest businesses in the world have called on him to help create their story and define their purpose.
"Roy has also made a difference in his community and country by lending his time and expertise to worthwhile causes. At every turn, Roy has found ways to make a difference in people’s lives," Heldenfels said.
The Purpose Institute's goal is to help organizations and leaders discover and fulfill their purpose. Along with Haley Rushing, Spencer co‐authored the book "It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose." More recently, he authored "The 10 Essential Hugs of Life," a collection of stories about the need for gratitude and love.
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Spence said he is especially fulfilled by his work with Make it Movement, which helps middle school and high school students explore fields and guides them toward their interests. In addition to empowering students, the nonprofit supports school counselors, teachers and parents to find career pathways for students that play to their strengths.
An estimated 22% of adults in Central Texas older than 25 without a high school degree are earning an income below the poverty line, according to Austin-based education research firm E3 Alliance. That number drops to 12% for adults with a high school diploma.
One of the reasons students are not finding higher-income jobs, Spence said, is they are finding out about them late in their schooling or even afterward.
"I realized that we have millions of high-skilled careers, and our young people have no clues," Spence said in a Statesman interview. "We go into their schools, and we show them that there's a world of opportunity out there that they have no idea about. There is one thing we Texans and Americans can agree about is that every parent wants their kid to be successful."
Austin Community College Chancellor Richard Rhodes met Spence about eight years ago, when he was giving a speech about making a positive difference in the lives of other people.
"That just hit home with me, and I asked him to be our commencement speaker, and he agreed to do that," Rhodes said. "He shook the hand of every single student, looked them in the eyes and said this really meant a difference to him. He said he saw the diversity and the families and how proud they are and how full of hope and joy they are."
Rhodes said Make it Movement is all about "helping young people understand high-skill income career pathways. What he's really interested in is how do we get students to find their passion so they can make money and become economically mobile and seek pathways to prosperity.
"Roy Spence has a deeply embedded desire that goes way back to use advertising and marketing for good," he said.
The Austinite of the Year award was created in 1984 to recognize significant leaders in the local community who have been instrumental in making Austin a better place to live, work, and do business. The Austin chamber will present the award to Spence at its annual meeting, Cheers to the Year, on Feb. 8.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Advertising veteran Roy Spence is 2022 Austinite of the Year
