Be a champion of a family’s future
Leaders with Distinguished and Broad Experience
AVANCE's leadership team is distinguished by its broad and deep experience and its unsurpassed focus on AVANCE’s mission of helping families scale new heights and achieve future success.
National Office
Elida Gonzales
Chief Operations and Innovation Officer
Elida serves as Chief Operations and Innovation Officer of AVANCE. Elida joined AVANCE in 1998 and has spent most of her career in leadership roles in accounting, finance and business development. Elida is the project lead for AVANCE’s Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, a collective impact project in the Texas Rio Grande Valley called PACES (Pathways to Alliances for Community Engagement Services). She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from St. Mary’s University and her Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Tom Hedrick
Chief Executive Officer
Tom comes to AVANCE from the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University, where he was a Fellow during 2017. Before Harvard, Tom was an Operating Partner in Private Equity at The Stephens Group. Before his work at The Stephens Group, Tom was a Senior Partner with McKinsey and Company. Tom holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard.
Anne Thomas
Chief Program Officer
Anne Thomas is the Chief Program Officer of AVANCE Inc. The quality, integrity, and fidelity of AVANCE’s signature Parent-Child Education Program and the innovation and implementation of all AVANCE intellectual property are her principal responsibilities. Before joining the AVANCE headquarters staff in mid-2018, Anne was the Executive Director of AVANCE North Texas. Anne has a long and distinguished history with nonprofit leadership with organizations such as Big Thought, ChildCareGroup, and the Houston/Harris County Homeless Coalition. Anne holds a bachelor's degree in business management and a Master of Business Administration from Warren University.