Elisa
Villanueva Beard

Straight out of college, Elisa joined Teach For America as a corps member and taught first and second grade bilingual education in South Phoenix. Hooked on TFA’s mission to advance educational equity, she led the non-profit’s work in her hometown in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, rose quickly to COO, and became CEO in 2015. Based in Houston, Elisa now oversees a network of more than 65,000 TFA corps members and alumni working in over 300 communities across the U.S.