GIVE BACK
ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT
Notley shines a light on relentless change-makers while paying tribute to Austin history. BY JESS BUGG
As Zoom continues to be our primary meeting place, it’s hard not to miss the humanity of connecting in person. However, when speaking to Lisa Graham and Lawton Cummings, their warmth somehow transcends the two-dimensional screen. Bringing people together as hosts of the Notley Moontower Ball and Changemaker Awards, they are sure to deliver an experience like no other. WOMEN ON A MISSION
Graham is the co-founder and a partner of investing group Notley, founded in 2015, a self-described “band of changemakers [sic], entrepreneurs, leaders, investors, troublemakers, social-change warriors, philanthropists and do-gooders.” When speaking about the inspiration behind Notley, Graham says, “We wanted to do more than write grants; we wanted to create an organization where we got to be entrepreneurial while also getting to work with nonprofits. The problems that all of our community’s face are multifaceted and incredibly complex. We realized we wanted to be the wind at the backs of change-makers and leaders in their field.” The mission of Notley is to, “unleash relentless change-makers to bring about systemic change through the integration and collaboration of purpose for profit.” Notley’s business model is investing in for-profit ventures, with the group’s partners only taking a set salary so they can put additional profits toward their nonprofit work, which they do via a 501(c)(3) called Notley Impact. The investing group also runs multiple initiatives out of Notley Impact, such as Philanthropitch, Beam, Notley HomeFront and Notley Fellows. Cummings is a partner at Notley and the president of Notley HomeFront, which addresses food insecurity, affordable housing and access to economic opportunities. While working as the CEO of Austin100, a nonprofit where business and community leaders discuss challenges facing the city and abroad, she was tasked with creating topics for group sessions and recruiting more women to join the organization. “It was a really exciting time for me, working through how to leverage both your business and your nonprofit side,” Cummings explains. Becoming a partner at Notley was a natural transition. “I need my work to be purposeful, but I also love being entrepreneurial and investing in startups, and that is what Notley does.”
Graham and Cummings are co-chairs of the inaugural Notley Moontower Ball and Changemaker Awards being held on Feb. 12. The Moontower Ball is named after Austin’s iconic moonlight towers (colloquially referred to as moontowers), which have illuminated Austin’s community gathering places for well over 100 years. Like its namesake, The Moontower Ball hopes to serve as a “beacon of amplification” for organizations and individuals who are driving positive community impact. “A big part of the work we do is connecting people by building an ecosystem,” Graham says. “What better way to do that than bringing people together for this event that recognizes change-makers in a room full of other change-makers so they can NOTLEY CO-FOUNDERS DAN AND LISA GRAHAM support each other?”
24 | AUSTIN WOMAN | FEBRUARY 2022
Photo by Buster Jetter.
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