September
2011 E-Newsletter
New
Leaders in a New Year
Special Message from the
Executive Director
As I step down from my
position this month, I want to thank our Board of Directors for the privilege
and opportunity to have served as the AVANCE-Dallas Executive Director. It has
been an honor to work on behalf of our families while leading our Dallas team
since 1996. We’ve taught, pushed, inspired, and loved more than 14,000 children
and parents over the course of 15 years!
I’m exceedingly proud of
our achievements, but most importantly I’m humbled and deeply touched by our
families’ overwhelming response to our work—so many extraordinary educational
and personal accomplishments! It’s a testament to the power of our work, and I
take with me a full heart and many precious memories.
Together, our board, staff,
donors, and volunteers have built AVANCE-Dallas into a top-tier educational
institution. We have received astounding school, community, public, and private
support over the years. My thanks to each of YOU for your time, treasure,
and talent: Together we are turning the educational tide for Hispanic youth and
in the process are reshaping the future of our Dallas community.
Please help me welcome
Helen Holman who will be serving as Interim Executive Director as of September
20th. Helen has had a long professional career in the nonprofit arena and as
President of Helen Holman & Associates, LLC. Her impressive list of clients
includes the Zero to Five Funder’s Collaborative, the Rainwater Charitable
Foundation, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and Catholic Charities. Over the
years Helen has strongly championed Avance-Dallas’s
work, and we are pleased to have her leadership during this time of transition.
Thank you, Helen!
And from the bottom of my
heart, my thanks to each of YOU!
Lisa Oglesby Rocha
Executive Director
Leverage Your Parent-Child
Book Clubs Donation on Sept. 15
“When I take out a book, my
son gets very happy and begins to jump up and down!”
That’s what one mother said
after attending our Parent-Child Book Clubs. The common result of these 24
one-hour sessions is that moms read and read with their kids, and
their children ask to read and read more books.
On September 15 you have a
unique opportunity to increase every dollar you donate to the Avance-Dallas Book Clubs by joining in
the “Get Up and Give!” North Texas Giving Day. “Get
Up and Give!” is a day when nonprofits with an approved DonorBridge profile,
like Avance-Dallas, are eligible
to receive matching funds through online donations via DonorBridge, a website
run by Communities Foundation of Texas with the support of the Dallas
Foundation and the Center for Nonprofit Management.
We need $20,000 to deliver
the Book Clubs this year, and every “Get Up and Give” gift to Avance-Dallas will be used to further
literacy in over 500 children and parents at 13 Book Club sites. To make the
most of your gift, be sure to go directly to our
DonorBridge page at this link
(or search for Avance-Dallas
on www.donorbridgetx.org),
and make a donation of at least $25 on
September 15 between 7 AM and 7 PM using the “Donate Now” button. When you do
this, you will leverage your Book Clubs gift by tapping into the more than
$1 million that will be matched to all donations that day.
Thanks for standing up for
children and supporting literacy when you “get up and give” on September 15!
Welcome Our New Board
Members
We’re delighted to welcome
four new Dallas community leaders who are joining our board of directors for
the 2011–2012 year: Jonathan Armstrong of Garland Independent School District, William
Hornberger of Jackson Walker L.L.P., Telisa Webb Schelin of Behringer Harvard,
and Stephanie Zapata Moore of Luminant.
Jonathan Armstrong serves
in Title I Parent Involvement at Garland Independent School District (ISD) and
has led efforts to help parents engage their children’s education in Garland
for the past five years. He has seven years’ experience as an ESL teacher in
the Dallas ISD and has taught on child development and schools, families, and
communities at the college level. With this extensive experience and a masters
degree in human development and family studies from the University of North
Texas, Mr. Armstrong brings to the board his experience in working with a
suburban school district and a keen understanding of how to leverage educational
impact for young children.
Willie
Hornberger
practices in the Tax and International sections of Jackson Walker. His tax
practice emphasizes transactional and international tax matters and tax
controversy. Mr. Hornberger is a former Chair of the Tax Section of the State
Bar of Texas. He received both his B.B.A. degree, with high honors, and his J.D. degree, with honors, from the University of Texas, and his LL.M. in
Taxation from New York University. Among his numerous honors, Mr. Hornberger is
listed in The Best Lawyers in America under Tax Law (2003–2010), and he
was named as one of the "Best Lawyers in Dallas" by D Magazine
(2007–2009, 2011) and as a "Super Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters (2003–2010).
Mr. Hornberger served on our Advisory Board last
year and was instrumental in leveraging resources and bringing the pieces
together through his community leadership to make our office relocation
possible.
Telisa Webb Schelin is Vice
President and Assistant General Counsel for Behringer Harvard. She is
specifically responsible for all legal aspects of Behringer Harvard REIT I,
Inc., a publicly registered, non-listed real estate investment trust that owns
over 60 commercial office properties with approximately 23 million in square
footage located in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Ms. Schelin
graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law with highest honors and
also received her B.A. in Political Science with honors from the University of
Tulsa. In 2010, she was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal as one
of its "40 Under Forty," which recognizes accomplished executives and
entrepreneurs under the age of 40, and was named one of the ten leading “Women
of Influence” by Real Estate Forum magazine. As Co-Chair of Attorneys
Serving the Community last year, Ms. Schelin led the team in a hugely successful
beneficiary that raised over $340,000 for Avance-Dallas with nearly 1,200 in attendance and increased Avance’s visibility in the Dallas
community.
Stephanie Zapata Moore is
Senior Counsel and Senior Director of Contract Administration for Luminant
representing the generation, mining, construction, and wholesale trading businesses
in commercial transactions and environmental matters. Prior to joining Luminant
Legal in 2005, Stephanie was an Associate in the Trial (1998–1999) and
Corporate & Securities (1999–2005) Practice Groups of Gardere Wynne Sewell
LLP’s Dallas office. Ms. Moore has a bachelor of arts
degree from Duke University and a J.D. degree from the William and Mary School
of Law. Texas Monthly named her a
“Texas Rising Star” in 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009. Ms. Moore comes to Avance-Dallas as a member of Attorneys
Serving the Community, which supported our agency through their 25th annual
luncheon beneficiary last year.
On behalf of our returning
board members and staff, a hearty welcome to our new board members! We look
forward to seeing how you touch the Avance-Dallas
family with each of your unique gifts and abilities.
Simon: From Alcoholism to
Advancement
The bottle could have
destroyed Simon’s life. But his experience at Avance-Dallas
gave him something worth living for.
When he was a teenager,
Simon endured a lot of mistreatment from his older brothers who constantly made
fun of him. His parents rarely supported him, and as soon as he could leave the
house, he joined the army. There he learned that crying was not acceptable. He
left the military an outwardly strong man, but without an education, he walked
down a path that led him to become an alcoholic.
At Avance-Dallas his rocky past and rough language made some
people uncomfortable at first, but they soon learned that he was committed to
giving his children the best education they could receive and to improving
himself as a father. He wanted to give his kids the love they deserved so that
his history would not repeat itself with them.
Simon went out of his way
to make sure he could attend the class, even to the point of asking for three
hours off during the week so he could attend. He would show up in his jumpsuit
from the body shop where he worked just so he could go to class. He knew that
attending class would help him continue to grow as a father, a husband, and a
human being.
This past summer, Simon
successfully completed Phase 2 of the Baby University Program. He says he is
grateful to Avance-Dallas for his
personal growth as a father because through the program he kicked bad habits
like smoking and yelling at his children. Now he shares more time with his
family and has learned that going out with his friends and drinking is not a
priority in the life of a father.
At the graduation, Simon
received an award and band of honor for completing his second year in Baby
University. He walked up with his daughter, Amy, in hand to receive his
award filled with pride and satisfaction at meeting his goals. And today his
entire family says they have a different father and husband since he attended
Baby University.
Partner Profile: Allied
World
We’re
privileged to introduce a new Avance-Dallas
partner: Allied World U.S.
(Allied World). Allied World has provided a $15,000 grant to help us complete
our Relocation Project as we move to our new West Dallas home.
Allied
World Assurance Company Holdings, Ltd, through its subsidiaries is a global
provider of innovative insurance and reinsurance solutions. The Dallas office is one
of nine U.S. offices and has taken the lead in channeling available funds to
our organization’s current pressing needs. They’re also committed to a long-term partnership and are looking to volunteer with Avance-Dallas in meaningful ways.
This
first Allied World donation specifically goes to the final costs of refitting
our new headquarters to make our program as efficient and effective as possible
and of relocating to the building this summer before our new program year
begins in late August.
We’re
grateful for Allied World’s investment in the infrastructure of Avance-Dallas so we can deliver our
results-driven program for years to come. And we look forward to building a long-term
relationship that involves not just treasure, but also their time and talent.