2026 Education Symposium

Elisa Villanueva Beard joined Houston Endowment as president and CEO in 2026. A nationally recognized nonprofit leader with nearly three decades of experience guiding organizational transformation, she leads the Foundation’s vision to create a vibrant region where all have the opportunity to thrive. She works alongside a multidisciplinary team to shape the Foundation’s priorities and deploy its resources—including more than $100 million in annual grantmaking—to strengthen public education, increase civic engagement, enhance the arts and culture sector, grow greenspaces, and ensure the organization remains responsive to the needs of our community today and forward-looking in building for the future.

A South Texas native and longtime Houston resident, Villanueva Beard brings a leadership approach grounded in trust, partnership, and mission-driven impact. Her experience—shaped by time in the classroom and in communities across the country—has reinforced her belief in the power of local leadership and the importance of strengthening the systems that allow families and neighborhoods to thrive.

Villanueva Beard comes to the Foundation after a 27-year tenure at Teach for America (TFA), where she helped guide the organization through major periods of growth, strengthening its impact and national reach. She served as CEO for 12 years, leading an enterprise of approximately 1,500 staff and more than 70,000 alumni, navigating multi-year organizational transformation—including digital modernization—and strengthening the organization’s long-term strategy. Her tenure included stewardship of a $200 million endowment and oversight of a $300 million operating enterprise, rigorous external evaluation of organizational impact, and extensive partnership-building across philanthropy, government, and civic organizations. She launched innovative initiatives including the TFA Reinvention Lab, the research and development engine for the organization to foster new ways of learning, and the Ignite Fellowship program, a personalized, high-impact tutoring corps.

Prior to becoming CEO, Villanueva Beard served as the chief operating officer for TFA and oversaw the organization’s field operations expansion from 22 to 48 sites over eight years. In her tenure as TFA’s executive director in the Rio Grande Valley, she more than tripled the size of the teaching corps, increased fundraising efforts, and built new community partnerships. Her journey of public service began in the classroom as a TFA corps member, teaching elementary students in Phoenix. That experience shaped her enduring belief in the potential of every child and the care, high standards, and support they need to thrive.

Villanueva Beard earned a B.A. in sociology from DePauw University. She serves on the boards of The Holdsworth Center, City Fund, GoGuardian, Leadership for Educational Equity, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. She is the Governance Chair and Champion for JOURNEY to Lead and an inaugural member of the Pahara–Aspen Education Fellowship. She has been recognized among LinkedIn’s Top 20 Voices in Social Impact and ALPFA’s 50 Most Powerful Latinas. She lives with her husband and four sons in Houston.