Support Us

Leadership Team

Be a champion of a family’s future

Support Us

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.

Teresa Granillo

Chief Executive Officer

Teresa Granillo is the Chief Executive Officer of AVANCE Inc. She previously served as Executive Director of Con Mi MADRE, a two-generation organization that supports young Latinas on the path to higher education and engages their mothers in the educational journey alongside them. In her six years as Executive Director, Granillo and her team significantly expanded the impact of Con Mi MADRE, increasing the number of mothers and daughters served, expanding programming to new sites in Austin, and establishing chapters in two additional cities. Prior to Con Mi MADRE, Granillo was a tenure-track professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona, and dual Ph.D.’s from the University of Michigan.

Chapter Leadership

Frances Brown

Rio Grande Valley - Regional Director

Francesca A. Brown is the Regional Director at AVANCE RGV Chapter located in Alamo, Texas. Mrs. Brown began her career in Early Childhood Education in 1994. She has worked in Head Start, Child Care Licensing, and Texas Public Schools for over 20 years.    Frances holds an Associate’s degree in Early childhood from South Texas College, a Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentration in Bilingualism, Consulting and Business Management from University of Texas Brownsville and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Lamar University. 

Daisy Cano

AVANCE North Texas - Executive Director

Daisy is currently the Executive Director of AVANCE North Texas. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2008 and joined AVANCE North Texas as coordinator of the HOPE program in January 2009. Prior to her interim ED role, Daisy was Chief Operations Officer of AVANCE North Texas. Ms. Cano has experience as an early intervention specialist, case manager and program coordinator.

Luz Flores

Houston - Executive Director

As Executive Director for AVANCE-Houston, Luz Flores has nearly 30 years of leadership experience with national nonprofit organizations. Throughout her career, Luz has successfully steered organizations, such as the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto, the United Way of Greater Houston and SER Jobs for Progress, through periods of substantial growth and transition. Luz joined AVANCE-Houston in 2009, serving in several management positions, and assumed her current role in 2016. Originally from Puerto Rico, Luz holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Non-Profit Management from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio Texas, and a Human Resources Certificate from Rice University.

Susan Thompson

San Antonio - Executive Director

Thompson brings 28 years of leadership experience in nonprofit business, social services, and healthcare sectors. She most recently served as the Vice President – Grants, Programs, and Services at the San Antonio Area Foundation. Susan is actively involved with a wide range of professional and nonprofit organizations, including the Masters Leadership Program, John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. A native San Antonian, Thompson holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology/english from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from Rice University.