About Redemptive Labs Austin

Redemptive Labs Austin is a localized expression of a global vision pioneered by our friends at Praxis. Based in New York City, Praxis is a non-profit organization that serves as the hub of a venture-building ecosystem, advancing redemptive entrepreneurship by supporting founders, funders, and innovators who are motivated by their faith to address the major issues of our time. The Redemptive Labs Austin team licenses programs and content from Praxis to engage leaders locally.

Praxis believes that entrepreneurs are called to be both creative and prophetic in their work. As they describe it, “…as human beings we're designed to make something of the world — to turn the raw material of creation into culture. When we make new organizations, products, brands, models, partnerships, processes, relationships, and expressions that in turn create possibility and opportunity for others — we're being creative." At the same time, "As the Church, our prophetic task is to show and tell the truth about the world — to bear witness to the story of God's holy purposes for the world he loves. This involves word and action, consolation and confrontation, invitation and resistance."

Through their Labs initiative, Praxis empowers local communities like ours to catalyze redemptive entrepreneurship in their own cities and contexts. Redemptive Labs Austin carries forward this mission here in Central Texas, creating space for founders and leaders to deepen their imagination and accelerate their practice of redemptive work. We share Praxis' long-term vision to make redemptive entrepreneurship commonplace among Christians, believing that redemptive innovation can be profoundly good news for our neighbors and our city.

Our theological foundation aligns with Praxis' understanding that while humanity is created in God's image and culture was made very good, both have become distorted through selfishness and cry out for healing. Though we cannot put the world fully right through human efforts alone, we can participate in God's redemptive work through the ventures we build and the communities we foster.

Opportunities for
Redemptive Imagination

As one of their key initiatives, our partners at Praxis have defined five major issues of our time for redemptive entrepreneurs to point their time and energy towards. These five areas are now known as Opportunities for Redemptive Imagination (ORIs).

Who We Are: Redemptive Personhood

  • Addiction: Prevention and Replacing Stigma with Love and Care

  • Child Well-Being: Lasting Solutions for Vulnerable Children and Families

  • Disability: Reframing Difference as a Gift to Society

  • Family: Enriching the Formation and Life of the Household

  • Mental Health: Reversing the Crisis through Creative Care

  • Racial Justice: Creative Approaches to Restoration and Reconciliation

  • The Church: Revitalizing Evangelism, Discipleship, and Mission

Where We Live: Redemptive Communities

  • Global Conflict: Preventing and Reversing the Consequences of War

  • Global Development: Building Infrastructure for Flourishing Communities

  • Homelessness: Preventing Insecurity and Building Communities of Belonging

  • Immigration & Refugees: Hospitable Resourcing and Resettlement

  • Neighborhood Renewal: Planning and Placemaking for Local Revitalization

  • Public Life: Renewing Civic Engagement and Reversing Polarization

  • Real Estate: Designing and Developing the Built Environment

How We Work: Redemptive Vocation

  • Arts & Entertainment: Good, True, and Beautiful Storytelling

  • Consumer Brands: Building Virtue-Driven Narratives and Communities

  • Fashion: Weaving Dignity into Brand, Design, and Production

  • Finance: Purposeful Investing and New Models for Capital Deployment

  • Good Jobs: Dignifying Labor Models amid Industrial Transformation

  • Philanthropy: Activating Sacrificial Generosity and a Spirit of Abundance

What We Face: Redemptive Systems

  • Criminal Justice: Preventing the Cycle of Incarceration

  • Education: Forming, Equipping, and Credentialing Society

  • Environmental Stewardship: Transforming Resources to Care for Creation

  • Food & Agriculture: Cultivating Sustainability and Nourishment

  • Health Care: Advancing Access and Repairing Broken Systems

  • Human Trafficking: Disrupting Exploitative Incentives and Networks

  • Poverty: Creating Pathways for Upward Mobility

Where We’re Going: Redemptive Technology

  • AI: Designing to Develop Human Capacities and Enrich Relationships

  • Biotechnology: Designing Life at the Cellular Level

  • Blockchain: Developing New Social and Economic Possibilities

  • Deep Tech: Innovations in Science and Engineering for Human Flourishing

  • Technology in Life: Recalibrating the Digital Realm’s Influence on Society

Learn More