SXSW Honors Organizations with the 2021 Community Service Awards

Our cities are the people within them; community at its heart. SXSW believes in the grass root catalysts who inspire change, growth, and connection within their spheres. The 2021 SXSW Community Service Awards presented by TikTok celebrate the spirit of community, both in Austin and around the world.

This year, we honor five incredible organizations who have dedicated their missions to their communities. Learn more about this year's honorees below and explore more about all SXSW awards.

2021 Honorees

Angel by Nature
Angel by Nature (aka Trae The Truth) is dedicated to improving life for individuals who have been affected by hardship and impoverishment, especially the underserved youth. It is the organization’s ultimate goal to help struggling individuals in the city of Houston come up out of harsh times. We take matters into our own hands, get on the ground, and make our own path to support, aid, and heal our communities around us each and every day.

Coalition of Texans With Disabilities
Founded in 1978, CTD is the largest and oldest member-driven cross-disability organization in the state. "Cross-disability" refers to all types of disabilities and different functional needs, rather than a particular disability or subset of disabilities. CTD envisions a future where all Texans with all disabilities may work, live, learn, play, and participate fully in the community of their choice. We focus on governmental advocacy, public awareness activities, and professional disability consulting to make Texas a leader in disability-related public policy and culture.

Paint the Void
Paint the Void is a fiscally-sponsored 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, born from an idea to help keep artists engaged and paid as guardians of hope and beauty in a time of fear and uncertainty. Since mid-April 2020, Paint the Void has facilitated and supported the creation of over 130 murals in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland, funding over 150 artists. Paint the Void is funded through small individual donations, grants, and collaborations with larger institutions for temporary and permanent murals. To learn more follow us on Instagram: @paintthevoidproject.

Sad Girls Club
Sad Girls Club is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization founded to create community and diminish stigma around mental health. We strive to support women of color and the millennial and GenZ population. We are both an online platform and an in-real-life-community created to bring girls together who are battling mental illnesses. There are three goals that stand at the forefront of our work. First, remove the negative stigma integrated in mental health conversations. Second, provide mental health services to girls who do not have access to therapy and treatment. Third, create in real life safe spaces that build a community for young women to know— they are not alone.

WIT: Whatever It Takes
WIT is built on the foundation for the "11 Tips for Doing WIT." People involved in WIT programs and on the WIT Team commit to living the 11 Tips and “doing WIT," Some of these tips include: “Living In Alignment,” “Showing Up” and “Setting Yourself Up for Success.” Over the years we have collected the data to show that teens involved in WIT increase their emotional intelligence. WIT uses the vehicle of entrepreneurship to help young people develop their emotional intelligence and grow as leaders.

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