HISTORY

In 2001, the  Ford Foundation gave birth to the concept of a US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership by providing $3 million in seed funds. At its core was a dream -- to create a partnership of funders who shared a commitment to supporting community philanthropy along the border.

In 2002, The Texas Valley Communities Foundation (TVCOF) became a founding affiliate of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Group, a bi-national organization of community foundations created by twelve (12)  major funders. The founding funders included: Ford Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Pfizer Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Houston Endowment, Meadows Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, Inter-American Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Foundation  Gonzalo Rio Arronte.

In 2008, with major support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Houston Endowment and Meadows Foundations, the Texas Valley Communities Foundation launched Engaging Communities for College Readiness (ENCORE)  an initiative encompassing forty-eight (48) South Texas school districts, the business community and the governmental sector. Funding from the Gates Foundation provided pass-through grants to participating local NGOs to strengthen their ability to mobilize  and engage parents, teachers, students and the general community in advocacy for school reform.