Austin returned to the States again in August 1957 and gave a talk in Hackensack, New Jersey, though she expected to return soon. Still she was in Cincinnati in March 1958 for a reception at Wilberforce. She worked as executive director of the DC office of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and their convention in DC, and reported as a member of the Intercontinental Teaching committee at the US Baháʼí national convention. In July Austin was part of the NCNW reception for the visiting dignitary Kwame Nkrumah then prime minister of Ghana. In October Austin spoke in Chester, Pennsylvania, for a regional meeting of Baháʼís. In November Austin served through the NCNW as it organized exhibits of African-American women at the 35th Women's International Exposition. In May 1959 Austin continued her work with NCNW for a regional convention in New York. Circa June NCNW had a conference giving awards, announcing studies and newspaper coverage mentioned her comment that "inter-racial participation in the conference inspired a hope for a changed attitude toward minority groups in the South." Austin also presided at a meeting on the evening of the centenary of the execution of the Báb.*
