Board Member

Orientation

PY 20152016

A Performance Based
Culture

Unlocking Americas potential by strengthening families in at-risk

communities through effective parent education and support
programs.

Founded in 1973 to serve hardest-toreach families

Through a two-generation program model that is:
Strengths-based
Culturally sensitive

Sites in Texas, New Mexico, and California

2

Our Mission
Unlocking Americas potential by
strengthening families in at-risk
communities through effective parent
education and support programs.

Our Vision
We envision a future where we live in a
world in which children and parents
advance to their fullest potential,

AVANCE Social Change Model

Mission
Unlocking
Unlocking
Americas
Americas
Potentialby
Potentialby
strengthening
strengthening
families
families in
in at-risk
at-risk
communities
communities
through
through effective
effective
parent
parent education
education
and
and support
support
programs.
programs.

Social Change
Model
Theory of
the
Problem
Theory of
Action

Theory of the Problem:

Too

Vision

Theory of
Change
We envision a
future where
children and
parents advance
to their full
potential,
transforming the
communities in
whichwe live.

many children begin kindergarten unprepared for

success.
Parents are their childrens first and most important
teachers, but low-income parents are challenged in this
role by stresses and obstacles.
Many formal and informal early childhood development
centers or early childcare settings do not require
parental engagement and are therefore missing
Theory of Action: opportunities to positively impact childrens
The achievement gap can be closed at its roots by
Theory of Change
development.
ensuring that every child
A program providing culturally
spends his or her early years in an environment that
appropriate parenting education,
promotes optimal
empowerment, and communitydevelopment.
building with state-of-the-art early
The key to ensuring such an environment is a twochildhood development services to
generation approach that
hard-to-reach families can change the
capitalizes on parents strengths and love for their
trajectory of childrens lives.
children to help them
By replicating a cost-effective
become the best teachers and stewards of their
approach that gets measurable results,
childrens growth.
AVANCE can shift the paradigm of child
With the support of such programs, every childs home
development to an inclusive, wholecan be a

AVANCE Two-Generation Family Support and Education Mod

through cross system collaborations &
partnerships

Parent
First
Teacher

Healthy
Marriages*

Parent
Child
Education
Program*

Home
FirstFatherhoo
d*
Classro
om
Head Start
Early Head
Start

Workforce
Developme
nt

Adult
Education

Strong
Families
Strong
Communi
ties

Leadership
& Personal
Developme
nt*

* AVANCE curricula

Our Philosophy
AVANCE empowers families to break the cycle of
poverty through a proven two-generation
approach combining early
childhood development and parent education.
AVANCE fosters parenting knowledge and skills that
directly impact childrens development, while also
encouraging parents to achieve their own educational
and professional goals.

Two Generation
Exponential Impact on
Education

higher
student
achieve
ment
lowincome
families
engaging
with their
school

greater
social and
political
capital for
families

families
demand
children
achieve
higher
education

opportuni
ty for
better
paying
job

Parents education, economic

stability, and overall health
positively impact their childs
trajectory. Similarly childrens
education and healthy development
are powerful catalysts for parents.

Source: Family and Community Engagement Handbook and Aspen Ascend Top 10
for 2 Gen

Strategic National
Partnerships

AVANCE, Inc.
Strategic Priorities & Operational Goals
INCREASE AND EXPAND SOCIAL IMPACT, FINANCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY, AND PROGRAMMATIC SCALE
Goal 1.1 Position PCEP as the core AVANCE service & expand its reach
Goal 1.2 Expand utilization of AVANCEs curricula and programs in EHS settings
Goal 1.3 Strengthen components of circular model and increase awareness of
implementation through PACES project
Goal 1.4 Clarify and target program revenue from national revenue streams and
growth capital to support AVANCEs growth and operations

AMPLIFY AVANCES PROFILE AND POSITION AS A LEADER IN THE

EARLY CHILDHOOD FIELD
Goal 2.1 Raise the profile of AVANCE to increase awareness of and demand for twogeneration and community engagement models
Goal 2.2 Explore alternative pathways to impact the two-generation social space by
identifying and deliberately pursuing innovative experiments
Goal 2.3 Leverage 40th anniversary celebration as a catalyst for increased national
recognition

BUILD AVANCES TEAM AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Goal 3.1 Stabilize and fortify chapters, both as a mechanism for growth (through
T&TA) and to protect the AVANCE brand
Goal 3.2 Build strong systems and teams to successfully operationalize AVANCEs
plan

From its humble beginnings in 1973,

AVANCE has grown into a national
nonprofit with sites across the country
that deliver innovative family

education and support

services to at-risk families.
AVANCE

1
minut
e
elevator
speech

AVANCE strives to serve the

hardest-to-reach

population by using a twogeneration, family engagement

approach to impart parenting
knowledge that directly impacts

childrens development while

empowering parents to
achieve their own
educational and professional
goals.
AVANCEs renown Parent-Child
Education Program instills a
philosophy of nurturing care,
wellness, and language
development in caregivers as they

AVANCE, Inc. 2015

Organization
Structure

STRUCTURE
AVANCE, Inc. and its Chapters operate under a Single 501(c) 3,
under the responsibility of the National Board of Directors
Since May 2009, each Chapter is a separate non-profit
corporation in Texas WHOLLY OWNED by the Parent
Each Chapter Board is governing board which has a fiduciary
duty to the National Board and the State
All Assets and Liabilities are the responsibility of each Chapter

Definition of the National

Board
Powers
The ultimate governance of the affairs, activities and property of the
Corporation shall be vested in the National Board of Directors, which
may exercise all such powers of the Corporation and do all such lawful
acts and things as are not by stature or by the Certificate of
Formation or by these Bylaws prohibited.

Membership
The number of directors that constitute the entire National Board of Directors
shall be a minimum of five (5) to a maximum of twenty-one (21) voting
members. The National Board of Directors will be composed of a maximum of
twenty-one (21) voting members, to include 1 member from the Chapter
Advisory Board, and the Immediate Past Chairperson.

Officers
The Officers of the Corporation shall be the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson,
Parliamentarian, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past Chairperson,
President/CEO, and other officers that shall be appointed by the National Board
of Directors; these officers shall be full voting members except for the
President/CEO who shall serve as an ex-officio member and be non-voting.

Definition of the Chapter

Board
Powers

The Chapter Board shall manage the business, property and affairs of
the Chapter in a manner which is consistent with the Chapter Bylaws.
The Chapter Board shall remain directly accountable to AVANCE, Inc.,
as its sole member for any action exercised that is inconsistent with
any terms of this Policy, or any AVANCE, Inc. policy or procedure
manual.

Membership
Members of the Chapter Board shall be residents of the Defined Geographic Area. The
Chapter Board shall at all times consist of at least five (5) members. Pursuant to Chapter
Bylaws, this number may be changed at any meeting of the Chapter Board, provided,
however, that there shall never be less than five (5) members of the Chapter Board,
exclusive of any staff members of the Chapter who may be ex-officio members of the
Chapter Board. The Board shall be comprised of men and women with diverse expertise and
experience in social issues, social service delivery, funding and business management.

Chapter Officers
The officers of the Chapter shall be a chairperson, one or more vice chairperson(s), a
Treasurer, a Secretary, the Executive Director, and a Financial Manager who shall be
appointed annually prior to the end of each fiscal year by Chapter Board. All officers shall
serve for one year or until their successors are appointed. The Chapter Board shall have the
power to fill vacancies among the officers at any time and officers so elected to fill such
vacancies shall serve until the next annual meeting of the Chapter Board or until their
successors are appointed.

COP 3.3A

ROLES AND
Enhance AVANCEs
public
RESPONSIBILITIES

standing
The board articulates the
organization's mission,
accomplishments, and goals
to garner support from the
community
Ensure effective planning
The board actively
participates in an overall
planning process by
attending the quarterly
meetings

Protect assets and provide

proper financial oversight
The board approves
quarterly financial
statements, yearly budget
and fiscal audit

Support and evaluate the

President/CEO
The chapter board presents
their recommendation of
Executive Director to the
national board for final
approval
Ensure adequate financial
resources
Board members are
responsible for securing
funds for national operations
Build a competent board
The board is responsible for
developing prerequisites for
candidates and periodically
and comprehensively
evaluates board selfperformance

PY 2016 Board
Meetings
November 15,
Board call
Nation
al
Board

2015
February 4-5,
2016
April 14-15,
2016
June 16-17,
2016
Fall 2016

Dallas, TX
San Antonio,
TX
Houston, TX
Austin, TX

Chapt
er
Board
s

CHECKLIST

VANCE WILL PROVIDE BOARD MEMBERS WITH THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS ON

A YEARLY BASIS

AVANCE, Inc. Bylaws- for review

Board meeting dates for program year (August-May)- for
review
Board Code of Ethics for review
Conflict of Interest Form- for signature
Confidentiality Form- for signature

Questions?
Lucy Ortega
AVANCE National Board Liaison
https://www.facebook.com/AVANCEinc
118 N. Medina, San Antonio, Texas
Office:(210) 230-9667 DIRECT
Lortega.nat@avance.org