Austin Bar member Hon. Rudy Metayer received Leadership Austin’s 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award at the organization’s Community Engagement Awards event on Feb. 23, 2024.
Every year, Leadership Austin, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides leadership training, recognizes exceptional individuals who lead with a commitment to improving the community.
The Outstanding Alumni Award is given in honor of Polly Scallorn, who was the founding executive director of Leadership Austin and served in that role for 15 years. It is Leadership Austin’s highest award given to a graduate of its flagship program, Essential, and is determined based on an alum’s length and breadth of community service.
The award epitomizes the highest standards of integrity and servant leadership while demonstrating a commitment to the organization’s core values: equity, relationships, and learning.
In his career as an attorney, Metayer has represented both private and public entities in a diverse array of cases. He is the proud first college graduate in his Haitian immigrant family.
Metayer’s work extends beyond the courtroom. He has taught at-risk children, and has been integral in establishing partnerships between law enforcement, the State Bar, and the community to address policing challenges. He also serves as a city councilmember for the City of Pflugerville.
Metayer is a staunch advocate of expanding access to justice. He regularly participates in the Austin Bar Foundation’s Veterans’ Legal Assistance Program (VLAP)’s pro bono legal advice clinics for U.S. military veterans.
Beyond the legal realm, Metayer shares life with his wife, Letisha, and their three daughters: Celeste, Arielyn, and Brooklyn.
Below is a brief Q&A with Metayer reprinted from Leadership Austin’s alumni newsletter, In the Loop:
Leadership Austin (LA): What was your first experience leading in the community and how did this shape your leadership journey?
Rudy Metayer (RM): Helping to co-create an honor code at The University of Texas. It taught me that I didn’t need a title to get something done. Just a desire to make a change.
LA: In the face of challenges, what strategies do you employ to maintain community resilience?
RM: An open line of dialogue. A willingness to learn new things. A humility to admit if I am wrong. A desire to serve. It’s never been about me. It’s been about everyone I serve and help.
LA: If you could time travel, what period or era would you travel to and why?
RM: When I was a kid, I watched Happy Days when I was sick and thought that would be a great time to live in our country. Then one day I realized that since I was black, I wouldn’t necessarily have the same experiences Richie, the Fonz, and Potsie had on the show. So given that fact, I’m happy living in the time we do now since my rights and opportunities are guaranteed at a level they haven’t been in previous times in history. Alternately, I would love to go 10 years into the future and see what we did to solve the divisiveness we are experiencing today. I would bring back those solutions to solve our problems in the present.