Adidas Honors Texas A&M Alum for Community Impact

Apparel and footwear giant Adidas has selected Texas A&M University alum Samuel Austin Evans as a national ambassador for its Honoring Black Excellence initiative. The project seeks to uplift Black communities and provide resources and a platform to scale the impact of community leaders. Austin was honored alongside his partners at L.E.A.D., a nonprofit that uses sports to empower Atlanta youth to overcome structural barriers.

“While my story is uniquely mine, it’s also a testament to the power of institutions like The Posse Foundation,” says Austin. “Posse transforms dreams into tangible achievements.”

While my story is uniquely mine, it's also a testament to the power of institutions like The Posse Foundation. Posse transforms dreams into tangible achievements.

As a student at Texas A&M, Austin played a pivotal role in lobbying the university for a statue of Texas Senator Matthew Gaines, a former enslaved person and champion of higher education access initiatives in the Lone Star State. Those efforts paid off, with the University unveiling a statue of Gaines in fall 2021.

In Atlanta, Austin facilitates a college-prep workshop for high school students called “Bright Starts.” Through the initiative, he has helped to secure over $1 million in scholarships for students in just two years.

Austin’s pursuits beyond youth development underscore his commitment to entrepreneurship. His venture Did You Catch It seeks to revolutionize content distribution to allow content creators to reach consumers directly. Specifically, the app aims to democratize audience data for creators. This innovation, which launched this year, has garnered attention and investments from startup giants Antler and Alchemist.

Posse Atlanta honored Austin at the Power of 10 fundraiser last fall, where he delivered remarks to over 200 donors, partners, staff and alumni in the audience.

Austin holds a bachelor’s in marketing analytics and a master’s in higher education administration from Texas A&M. In addition to being selected as a Posse Scholar, Austin is an alum of the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship program.