Elisa Villanueva Beard

Elisa began her journey with Teach For America as a 1998 corps member in Phoenix. She joined staff in2001 to lead the organization’s work in her hometown in the Rio Grande Valley. Four years later, shebecame chief operating officer, overseeing field operations as Teach For America expanded to morethan 300 urban and rural communities. Today, under her leadership as CEO, Teach For America fosters anetwork of nearly 67,000 corps members and alumni working inside and outside education to ensurethat all children have the access and opportunity to learn, lead, and thrive.Elisa holds a B.A. in sociology from DePauw University. She sits on the boards of the Holdsworth Center,City Fund, GoGuardian, and Leadership for Educational Equity, and on the advisory board for the AT&TAspire Accelerator program. She serves as a JOURNEY to Lead Champion and a Founding Partner ofStarts With Us. She is recognized as one of the Top 20 Voices in Social Impact by LinkedIn and one of the50