National Office Staff
Richard J. Noriega
President & CEO
Rick Noriega is President and Chief Executive Officer of the national non-profit organization, AVANCE, Inc. This community-based organization focuses on offering early childhood education, parenting and comprehensive family services to predominantly Hispanic families.
Noriega’s career includes distinguished service in the Army, as a public servant and in business. He was Manager of Economic Development at CenterPoint Energy, Inc. in Houston for fifteen years, from 1992 to 2007, during which time he also was elected to five terms in the Texas House of Representatives. In 2007, Noriega was the Texas Democratic Nominee for the U. S. Senate. Most recently, he was Vice President of Neighborhood Centers Inc. where he managed the newly formed disaster case management program as well as six community centers and their programs.
Noriega has proudly served in the National Guard and Army Reserves since 1980 and now is a Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard. He served in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, as commander of the Kabul Military Training Center for Afghan forces. Noriega also served as Laredo Sector Commander during Operation Jumpstart in 2006. He recently relinquished command of the 1-141 Infantry Battalion (First Texas), 72nd BDE, 36th IN DIV.
Upon his return from Afghanistan in 2005, Noriega was appointed by Houston Mayor Bill White as Incident Commander of the city’s Hurricane Katrina relief efforts at the George R. Brown Convention Center. His leadership was crucial in transforming the Convention Center into a virtual city that cared for nearly 30,000 evacuees, and then was dismantled within a month.
Noriega is a Houston native with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College and earned a certificate in Advanced International Affairs from the Bush School of Government at Texas A & M University.
Management Team
Mercedes Perez de Colón – Program
Elida Gonzales – Accounting & Finance
Melissa Mireles – Media
Linda Valencia – Development
Michael Villalobos – Information Technology
Daniel Zorn – External Relations
Magdalena Santos – Project Manager
Carolina Guerrero – HR