When David Robinson Jr. moved to Austin in 2011 to pursue his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin and then later New York City, he never thought he’d return to his hometown of San Antonio to play a part in the city’s vast growth and revitalization. After graduating from UTSA, he now applies what he’s learned in his role as Weston Urban’s director of parks and recreation, a job he took on last fall. But he did. In 2019, David moved back to the Alamo City to help launch Blueprint Local, an investment firm that focuses on leading investors to intentionally deploy capital with impact into their communities. While getting reacquainted with his hometown, he had the desire to learn more about urban planning and the public sector’s role in shaping urban environments. Not long after moving back, David enrolled at UTSA to pursue a master’s degree in urban and regional planning and a graduate certificate in real estate finance and development. Since starting his graduate studies at UTSA, David has been a Dwight. D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow and member of a winning team for the CITE Big Rowdy Idea Competition. Recently, he was a Graduate Dean’s Choice Winner for the COVID-19 Transdisciplinary Team Grand Challenge for a proposal titled “Life Under COVID-19: Oral Histories of Small Businesses in the Historic Westside of San Antonio.”