Eugene Sepulveda is an uncle to six nieces and nephews, godfather to 11 young men & women, and a mentor to aspiring business and social entrepreneurs, former undergrad business students, and MBA students. He is the son of devoted parents – neither who graduated high school – including a father born on a sharecropping farm who learned English when he started elementary school at seven years old. Eugene was the first in his extended family to attend college. He and his husband of seventeen years, Dr. Steven Robert Tomlinson, first connected over their passion for building community and a vision of hosting family, friends, and students in their home for dinners and conversations. Through A.B. Porter, they support art and conversations that build community.
Eugene is CEO of the Entrepreneurs Foundation, a director of Capital Factory, and a senior advisor to Austin Mayor Steve Adler. Eugene has played at the intersection of Austin’s high-tech startup community, banking, university, government, and nonprofits for over 33 years – as Austin’s first tech banker, the CFO for a semiconductor packing company, and a lecturer at the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business. He recently founded Culturati Summit, an annual gathering of leaders from around the country who prioritize culture building for organizational success.
As the President & CEO of NPR-affiliate Marfa Public Radio, he led their expansion into the Permian Basin markets, increasing the listener and donor base tenfold. As co-chair of President Obama’s LGBT Leadership Council, he helped secure unprecedented LGBT monetary and electoral support. As Mayor Adler’s campaign treasurer and advisor, he led the Mayor’s landslide election. In addition, Eugene served as vice-chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the board for Leadership Austin, and as a trustee and investment chair for the Austin Community Foundation. He currently serves on the boards of the KDK-Harman Foundation, Bazaarvoice Foundation, the Entrepreneurs Foundation, and the Texas Tribune.
Awards and recognitions include the Best Austin Booster (Austin Chronicle), Best Professor (Alpha Kappa Psi), as a nominee for Outstanding Elective Professor (UT MBA), the Human Rights Campaign’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the HRC Bettie Naylor Visibility Award, 2014 honoree by the Mex Net Alliance, an Austin Under Forty award winner, the Austin Business Journal Heavy Hitter in Finance, and honored by the Austin City Council by the declaration of a Eugene Sepulveda Day in 1994 and Eugene Sepulveda & Steven Tomlinson Day in February 2015.