Faces of DePauw
Elisa Villanueva Beard ’98 Alumni
If only we lived in a country where truly everyone saw other people’s kids as their kids, everything would change.
Business Executive
In 2015, Elisa became chief executive officer of Teach For America. Today, under her leadership, Teach For America corps members impact hundreds of thousands of students each year in nearly 2,000 schools across the country. The Teach For America network of more than 66,000 leaders is working inside and outside the education field to ensure that all children have the access and opportunity to reach their full potential and achieve their dreams.
“The power of the systemic challenges facing our kids ran me over like a train pretty early on in my teaching,” she said. Did she ever feel like quitting? “For better or worse, it never entered my mind.”
Position: CEO at Teach For America
Major: Sociology