The new president of Houston Endowment will assume office on March 30, 2026. Learn about her background and what it could mean for Houston.
Houston Endowment announced that Elisa Villanueva Beard will be its next president and chief executive officer. The leader, with a national track record in the education sector and roots in Texas, will assume the role on March 30, 2026, when she succeeds Ann B. Stern, who has led the foundation for 13 years.
The announcement was made on December 9, 2025 and comes at a time when many organizations in the Houston metropolitan area rely on philanthropic partnerships to sustain community programs, from education and civic engagement to cultural projects, green spaces, and support for urgent needs such as homelessness.
From Teach For America to philanthropic leadership in Houston
Villanueva Beard leaves the leadership of Teach For America (TFA), an organization where she worked for 26 years and from which she led periods of expansion and institutional transformation. According to Houston Endowment, her path in public service began in the classroom: in 1998 she joined TFA as a program participant and taught elementary students in Phoenix.
Later, she joined the organization’s staff and held various leadership roles, including executive leadership in the Rio Grande Valley, the region where she grew up. According to the foundation, in that role she strengthened community partnerships, broadened the program’s reach, and increased fundraising efforts.
Her career continued with national responsibilities. In her role as chief operating officer, she oversaw the expansion of TFA’s field operations from 22 to 48 sites over eight years. As CEO, she led for 12 years a structure of approximately 1,500 staff members and a network of 70,000 alumni, in addition to driving digital modernization and long-term strategies.
The foundation also noted that her leadership included overseeing an endowment fund of $200 million and an annual operation of $300 million, in addition to external impact evaluations and partnerships with philanthropic actors, governments, and civic organizations. Among the initiatives mentioned are the TFA Reinvention Lab and the program Ignite Fellowship, as well as accelerating digital changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her message after the announcement, Villanueva Beard underscored her personal connection to the city. She noted that Houston is her home and that her experience, both in South Texas and working with communities in different regions of the country, reinforced her belief in the power of local leadership and the need to build conditions for families and communities to prosper.
The end of an era under Ann B. Stern
The transition comes after Stern announced in June that she would step down. Under her leadership, according to Houston Endowment, the foundation’s endowment grew from approximately $1.5 billion to more than $2.5 billion, and more than $1 billion in grants was awarded.
During that period, the organization reoriented its work toward long-term strategic priorities, such as public education, civic engagement, arts and culture, and green spaces, in addition to addressing emergent regional issues, including homelessness and the preservation of Riverside General Hospital. The foundation also highlighted a philanthropy approach based on trusted relationships with beneficiary organizations and cross-sector collaboration to seek fundamental solutions.
Melanie Trent, chair of the Houston Endowment board, noted that Villanueva Beard was selected after a national search. In the announcement, she described her as a leader with strategic vision and operational experience, as well as the ability to listen, build trust, and work with ambition and humility, qualities she considered essential to guiding the foundation’s philanthropic goals.
Stern, for her part, expressed enthusiasm for Villanueva Beard’s arrival and said she will be an ally for people and organizations that work daily to strengthen the region.
Importance for Houston’s Hispanic community
For the metropolitan area’s Hispanic community, the appointment carries particular weight. Villanueva Beard is a Latina leader whose career has been tied to education and the building of support systems for students and communities. That focus aligns with persistent challenges in Houston, where thousands of families face barriers related to school resources, access to opportunities, and social mobility.
Although Houston Endowment did not announce immediate changes in its investment areas, the profile of its next president and CEO suggests continuity in strengthening local organizations and expanding opportunities. For Houston’s community ecosystem, the period between the announcement and her taking office also opens space to observe priorities, collaboration style, and strategic emphasis in the coming years.
Houston Endowment, founded in 1937 by Jesse H. Jones and Mary Gibbs Jones, is a private foundation focused on improving the quality of life in Greater Houston. The organization reports that it has more than $2 billion in assets and invests around $100 million per year in areas such as public education, civic engagement, arts and culture, and green spaces, in addition to responding to emerging opportunities in the region.
