History

History of AVANCE

The story of AVANCE began in 1973 in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Gloria Rodriguez, an elementary bilingual teacher, had been inspired by the revolutionary work of Dr. Phyllis Levenstein and was looking for funding to start her own program for local families. At the same time, the Zale Foundation had funded a pilot of a Mother-Infant Program in Dallas, led by Cornell doctoral students, and was searching for someone to oversee an expansion of the program into San Antonio.

Providence brought the two together, and Dr. Rodriguez founded AVANCE in September 1973. Not long afterward, AVANCE began offering programming at the Mirasol Housing Project on the West Side of San Antonio.

AVANCE has grown since those early days – first within San Antonio, then across Texas, and by 2012, across the Nation. Today, AVANCE serves more than 13,000 caregivers and children annually across Texas and California.

Over the past 50 years, AVANCE has earned broad recognition as being one of the leading two-generation programs in the nation. Notable visits from national and international dignitaries include the Reverend Jesse Jackson, King Charles III, and former U.S. First Ladies Laura Bush, and the late Rosalynn Carter and Barbara Bush. AVANCE and PCEP were highlighted in books by former First Ladies Hillary Clinton and the late Rosalynn Carter and Barbara Bush. AVANCE has been featured in the New York Times, NBC’s Education Nation, ABC’s World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and several social documentaries such as Ounce of Prevention, Scared Silent, and No Small Matter. Explore our historical timeline below to learn more about how we have grown into a national leader in two-generation programming.