People | Elisa Villanueva Beard Teach For America Co-CEO
Latino leaders convened June 18 at a welcome reception for Teach For America Co-CEO Elisa Villanueva Beard hosted by Bank of America and California Community Foundation. More than 70 people attended the event, where Bank of America presented the Los Angeles chapter of Teach For America with a $10,000 check as part of the company’s focus on education and workforce development.
Attendees included Antonia Hernandez, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation; Raul Anaya, Los Angeles market president for Bank of America; Ivelisse Estrada, senior vice president of corporate and community relations for Univision; City Councilor Jose Huizar (14th District); Tom Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF; and Angelica Solis, executive director of the Alliance for a Better Community.
Lida Jennings, interim executive director of Teach For America-Los Angeles said, “More than 90 percent of the local students we serve are Latino, and we’re excited to deepen our partnerships with Latino leaders in the city. We’re grateful to Raul and Antonia for making this event possible.”
This year in Los Angeles, nearly 300 Teach For America corps members are reaching more than 21,000 students in underserved schools while 1,500 alumni are working from every sector to level the playing field for students and families in low-income communities.
A recent report by the Harvard Strategic Data Project found that Teach For America teachers in Los Angeles and teachers in the Career Ladder program (a pathway for Los Angeles Unified School District paraprofessionals such as teacher’s aides) are having a positive impact on student achievement in math. The effect of having a Teach For America teacher corresponded to a month and half of additional learning (or nearly 20 percent more) compared with other teachers. This study adds to the growing body of research that finds Teach For America corps members are having a positive impact across grade levels and subject areas.
Bank of America and Teach For America have worked together in communities across the U.S. to expand educational opportunity. Bank of America’s investments have helped Teach For America grow to scale while increasing the diversity of its teaching corps and fostering the leadership of its alumni as a force for change.
“Bank of America is proud to support Teach For America in a shared vision to improve the economic health of local communities through education,” Anaya said. “We focus our philanthropic efforts on workforce development and educational programs to help adults and young people gain the training and education opportunities that translate into employment and post-secondary success.”
About Teach For America
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding individuals of all academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, more than 10,000 corps members are teaching in 46 urban and rural regions across the country, while nearly 28,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
