Steve Lear

Each year, faculty and graduating seniors at the University of Minnesota Morris select a student to receive the Curtis H. Larson Award. The award recipient is recognized for outstanding community service and designated as the senior class speaker.

As this year’s award winner, Muthu delivered an inspiring commencement address to the class of 2026. He invited his fellow graduates to join him in celebrating their collective good fortune to have been educated at an inclusive, public liberal arts college in America—an education that taught them “how to make difficult choices well” while giving them “the freedom to shape our own lives.” You can listen to Muthu’s full speech (which begins at 24:35 in the program) at the following link: Morris Commencement

In presenting the award, University Chancellor Michael C. Rodriguez cited Muthu’s “exceptional commitment to addressing public issues through innovative collaboration and community building. Whether organizing candidate debates, facilitating cross-ideological dialogues, or securing resources for community programs, Muthu demonstrates a remarkable ability to bring diverse groups together and address shared challenges.”

Muthu has been sharing his considerable talents with the SteveLear.org team for the past several years, notably as co-author of Your Economic Avatar, and You—an innovative and thought-provoking blueprint for social change, written in partnership with Steve Lear and Marshall O’Meara. Together, this trio—representing two generations and three faith perspectives (Jewish, Hindu, and Protestant)—creates a valuable roadmap for those just starting their economic journeys.

So, what is your Economic Avatar?

It grows out of your economic activity. “All of the work you do, the investments you make, what you give to charity and philanthropic activity, all of it together leaves an impact on the world. By carefully cultivating and directing your economic resources, you can channel this impact and do good in the world more powerfully and intentionally than you could otherwise.”

Through a three-pillar plan that combines both philosophy and strategy, the authors outline their vision for what to do—and avoid—to build a strong economic avatar. They propose a simple but powerful framework: Focus on good work and smart investment; determine how much is enough; and share your surplus with others.

Perhaps this framework’s most distinctive feature is that it offers a way for everyone to impact social change, regardless of their economic status.

Our culture celebrates endless consumption, and it’s easy to get stuck there. Your Economic Avatar encourages you to define what’s “enough” so that, once it’s reached, you can contribute money, time, and effort to help others. The authors theorize that “once people stop chasing more for its own sake, they gain something far better than endless accumulation: the agency to convert their surplus resources into social growth. They offer stories of incredible impact made by well-known philanthropists as well as average citizens. They also offer suggestions for political and legislative changes that could help motivate people to channel their resources toward social growth.

This practical guidebook shows that it’s possible for money and meaning to coexist if we direct our time and energy to create impact as well as income. In this way, each person has the power to positively impact social change in their own unique way.

In the coming months, SLO will introduce Your Economic Avatar, and You as both a guidebook and a workshop. Its vision provides a new path for social change by redefining success as “giving” rather than “having.”

Our sincere thanks, Muthu, for helping us bring this project to life. We wish you every success as you begin law school at the University of Virginia in August.