Texanthropy Spotlight: Dennis Cavner - 2016 Governor’s Lone Star Achievement Award Winner
First Lady Cecilia Abbott served as Honorary Chair of the 2016 Governor’s Volunteer Awards. The awards – presented in conjunction with the OneStar Foundation – honored eleven of individuals and organizations from across Texas for the things they are doing to make a difference in their communities through service and volunteering.
Dennis Cavner was the winner of the 2016 Governor’s Lone Star Achievement Award, which recognizes the exemplary service of an individual who has volunteered for a minimum of 15 years. Lone Star Achievers are those rare individuals who recognize a community need and create new systems, programs and/or processes to achieve positive change – and Dennis has certainly done that. In 1999, with a deep understanding of finance and the power of relationships, Dennis Cavner helped to create a “Founder’s Circle” of individuals who pledged $9 million of social venture capital to launch an organization that is today recognized around the world as LIVESTRONG.
Nominees also inspire others to serve their cause through volunteering and philanthropy, often engaging cross sector partners for greater impact. To this end, Dennis has also successfully engaged individuals with deep expertise in finance, operations, technology, marketing, and sales to create powerful cross sector collaborations. Evidence of this is the recent merger between Innovation+ and Greenlights for Nonprofit Success. The resulting organization, Mission Capital, is now part of the Social Venture Partners network and has since partnered with local nonprofits to raise more than $15 million in growth capital to develop sustainable social enterprises in the Austin area.
Dennis believes in engaged philanthropy and social innovation and has served as Board Chair of LIVESTRONG, College Forward and Mission Capital. An inspiring and visionary leader, Dennis embodies a strong philanthropic spirit that inspires others to serve.
Congratulations to Dennis Cavner - the 2016 Governor’s Lone Star Achievement Award winner!