VHA is excited to introduce Austin Pajcic, our July VISTA Spotlight. Austin serves as the Affordable Housing Liaison VISTA at the George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) in Fredericksburg, VA.
About Austin:
Austin was born in Jacksonville, Florida and remains a passionate Jaguars fan. He is an incredibly driven individual, recently graduating from the University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Public Policy. During his time in college, he developed a keen interest in affordable housing after watching gentrification become a major problem in Denver. Following an internship with the Jacksonville Housing Authority, where the desire to help people afford a roof over their head only grew, he made the decision to move to the Northern Virginia area in order to begin his career.
Current Project:
Austin Pajcic currently serves as the AmeriCorps VISTA for the George Washington Regional Commission, where he supports the Regional Housing Assembly (RHA) across Planning District 16. His primary focus has been designing and implementing a comprehensive communications strategy to improve public awareness and engagement around affordable housing. This includes developing platform-specific outreach tools, launching a content calendar, and building feedback mechanisms to ensure the RHA’s messaging resonates with local communities.
Through this project, Austin has worked to help position the RHA as a more visible and trusted resource in the region. His work directly supports long-term goals to foster collaboration between stakeholders, dispel myths around affordable housing, and create a more informed, engaged public. In addition to his communications work, Austin has contributed to several key initiatives aimed at building long-term capacity for the RHA. He played a role in organizing the 2024 Regional Housing Summit, which brought together over 150 attendees from across the region. He is also working to develop new housing tools for the RHA to better understand and identify the housing process, to ensure more effective action in the future. Through these efforts, Austin is helping to position the RHA as a trusted resource in advancing regional housing solutions in planning district 16.