FEATURED: From a decade-long career as an IDEA Public Schools counselor, Executive Director of Rio Grande Valley LEAD (Linking Economic and Academic Development) to now Executive Director of the South Texas College Foundation and External Affairs, Marcos Silva, Ed.D., has made it his mission to serve his community through education. STC recently welcomed Silva to the higher education system, tasking him with the duty of raising funds that will provide life-changing scholarships to students. Silva is seen here on Friday, May 3, 2024 at the City of McAllen’s MXLAN International Economic Summit, which was held at the McAllen Convention Center.
Photograph Courtesy RIO GRANDE VALLEY LEAD FACEBOOK
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Dr. Marcos Silva, former Executive Director of Rio Grande Valley LEAD, selected to help guide South Texas College Foundation and External Affairs
By AMANDA SOTELO
From a decade-long career as an IDEA Public Schools counselor, Executive Director of Rio Grande Valley LEAD (Linking Economic and Academic Development), and now as Executive Director of the South Texas College Foundation and External Affairs, Marcos Silva, Ed.D., has made it his mission to serve his community through education.
STC leaders on Friday, August 14, 2025 welcomed Silva to the higher education system, tasking him with the duty of raising funds that will provide life-changing scholarships to students.
In 1993, South Texas College was the first and only community college system created by the Texas Legislature.
Key functions and goals of the South Texas College Foundation include:
• Its board of directors develops and implements a strategic plan to support STC’s goals and initiatives;
• A primary function is to raise funds through various means, including philanthropic partners and donors, to support student scholarships and other educational endeavor; and
• Its board of directors aims to build strategic alliances and partnerships to further the college’s mission, and to connect STC with the two-county area (Hidalgo County and Starr County) it serves, and its various partners.
“STC is a staple in the RGV community and to join this fierce institution full of great minds and experts is an honor,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of moving STC forward, engaging with the communities we serve, actively leading conversations about STC’s innovative approaches and achievements and serving our students through fundraising and scholarships that will lead to educational success.”
Silva recalls that years ago, STC granted him the opportunity to grow as a student during his undergraduate years. He has since gone on to earn a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree, a feat he said was challenging as a first-generation student.
“My parents know the value of a higher education and the upward mobility it provides,” said Silva. “But there are still challenges that, even with support, first-generation students face, and because I can relate to them, my passion is to find the opportunities that will best serve them.”
Now that his education and career have come full circle, Silva said he has a newfound sense of responsibility to STC and its students.
“This is my time, my chance to give back,” he said. “STC has been great to me, and it’s allowed me to grow in more ways than one. This is my chance to continue working in its legacy by engaging with familiar and new communities that will keep STC on the national map.”
Silva’s goal as the STC Foundation’s executive director is to keep education affordable and accessible to all. He plans to continue engaging and creating new philanthropic and corporate partnerships at the local, state and national level to raise funds for the students of STC and the Rio Grande Valley.
“STC is recognized nationally, and we want everyone to be a part of this and helps us move our students and institution forward,” said Silva. “I want our students to know that they are not alone. We are here for them, and this community-based approach will allow us to showcase STC’s work and our students’ achievements, which will bring more resources to our campuses. We’re here to support students and their families for many generations to come.”
Rodney Rodríguez, Ph.D., Vice President of Institutional Advancement and External Affairs, said Silva possesses all the qualities needed to oversee the critical work of the STC Foundation, guide fundraising strategies and deepen engagement with philanthropic and corporate partners to strengthen support for STC priorities and its students.
“Dr. Silva brings to STC a proven record of service in education, advancement and community leadership,” said Rodriguez. “In his most recent role with RGV LEAD, he championed efforts to align regional educational pathways with workforce and economic development, making us confident that his expertise, dedication and passion for student advancement will play a pivotal role in propelling the mission of STC and its foundation to new heights.”
Rio Grande Valley LEAD (LEAD rhymes with “feed”) is a nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Weslaco, linking employers to support both opportunities for students and economic development, according to its website.
Maricela “Mari” De León, MPA, CPM, whose extensive public service credentials also include more than 20 years of professional experience in the Texas Legislature, higher education, and economic development, on Friday, August 1, 2025, was selected Interim Director, RGV LEAD.
She succeeds Silva as RGV LEAD Executive Director.
“I was asked by my fellow board members to assume this administrative leadership role with RGV LEAD because our previous executive director, Dr. Marcos Silva, did such an exceptional job with us – and his outstanding other professional and personal achievements have opened tremendous other opportunities for him,” De León said. “I, too, am honored to follow in Dr. Silva’s footsteps – if only for a few months – in order for our Board of Directors to interview those who are sure to be first-class candidates for this vital position.”
De León is President of the Board of Directors for RGV LEAD.
Silva also serves as a part-time lecturer at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and has served as a leader and organizer for TEDx McAllen, TEDx McAllen Youth and the South Texas Ideas Festival.
“I’m here to support STC and our students’ journeys,” he said. “This career move aligns perfectly with my values, and I won’t stop looking for opportunities that can positively impact the Foundation, our students and our college. STC is already doing phenomenal work and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
In his new leadership role, Silva will be working with a board of directors whose members – all Rio Grande Valley residents – are powerful and successful business and civic leaders, known for their entrepreneurial skills, innovation, and positive contribution to society.
Those board members are:
• Yvonne “Bonnie” González, STC Foundation Board President. Recently retired, González served as founding Chief Executive Officer for Knapp Community Care Foundation for 10 years. González has had a distinguished career in public and higher education, health care and public nonprofit work, including CEO of the Workforce Development Board for Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr counties, and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Empowerment Zone Corporation. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kenney School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Gary Gurwitz, STC Foundation Board Vice Chair. A former managing partner with Atlas, Hall & Rodriguez, Gurwitz has more than 50 years of litigation experience representing corporations, banks, insurance companies and medical professionals. Gurwitz was a founding member of the South Texas College (then South Texas Community College) Board of Trustees and recently retired after serving 29 years on the STC Board of Trustees, whose members are elected by single-member districts. He is a longtime former member of the Board of Directors of the Vannie E. Cook Cancer Foundation, McAllen Planning and Zoning Commission and McAllen Economic Development Corp., among numerous professional and community service credentials. Gurwitz earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and his Juris Doctor (JD) with honors from the University of Texas Law School.
• Adele Félix, CPA, CFE, STC Foundation Board Treasurer. She serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations for the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District. Her duties make her responsible for the direct supervision and management of the business operations of the district. Félix is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She completed her studies at the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Texas at Austin.
• Sam Vale, STC Foundation Board Secretary. He is President and CEO of the Starr-Camargo Bridge Company. The Starr-Camargo Bridge, which connects Rio Grande City, Texas with Ciudad Camargo, Tamaulipas, serves as a crucial connector between South Texas and Mexico and facilitates hundred of millions of dollars of cross-border trade. His business ventures also include border region trucking and rail operations, and he serves in leadership in his region’s workforce development efforts. He is also the founder and former President of KTLM?TV, the Telemundo television affiliate for South. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and U.S. history at the University of Texas at Austin.
• Alonzo Cantú, STC Foundation Board Director. He is Chairman and CEO of Cantú Construction. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Lone Star National Bank. He also serves as a member of the Board of Managers of Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System. He is the owner of Valley Land Title Co., and is the majority owner of the National Basketball Association G-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Cantú recently finished his term as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Houston System. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the University of Houston.
• James “Jim” Collins, STC Foundation Board Director. He is Chairman and Director of the VBT Financial Corporation and its subsidiary, Vantage Bank Texas. He is Managing partner and Chairman of Rioco Partners, Ltd. His decades-long involvement across numerous boards and foundations includes South Texas GMC, Edwards Abstract Title Company, and Quinta Mazatlán. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
• Laura Nasir Warren, STC Foundation Board Director. She is President of the Warren Group Architects, Inc. with more than 39 years of successful and award winning experience in projects statewide for customers worldwide. Warren’s firm specializes in land development, full professional design services in healthcare, heavy and light industrial automotive, research and government-public facilities. Warren has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Building Science from Universidad Autónoma de Cuidad Juárez and post-graduate studies at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
In its pursuit of innovation and growth, South Texas College in 2023 established the Foundation and Foundation Board to continue striving at providing an affordable education for all.
The mission of the newly formed foundation is to raise funds to support student educational endeavors by means of grants and scholarships STC Vice President of Advancement and Economic Development Rodney Rodríguez, Ph.D. said the establishment of the STC Foundation is a critical resource for the college and its students.
“This allows us the opportunity to request funding from regional, state and national philanthropic partners to support educational initiatives,” said Rodríguez, who joined the STC family nearly one year ago to establish the foundation. “The foundation exists to benefit and provide assistance to the college through the cultivation of outside resources, and we’ll be exploring different types of opportunities that will provide resources for students to achieve a post-secondary degree.
“Each board member brings a critical and dynamic area of expertise that will propel us to be in communication with our community and the many partners STC has across the state and nation,” he said. “I have the greatest respect for each individual and know we are going to move the STC Foundation forward.”
González, as Foundation board chair, said she lives by a quote by Benjamin Franklin, “An investment in knowledge pays the BEST interest.”
“I truly believe in life-long learning,” she said. “Our foundation will provide STC students and their families the means to realize that dream. Working together with business partners, alumni and the philanthropic sector will leverage these educational opportunities for the entire Rio Grande Valley.”
She added that it’s an honor to serve as board chair and she is excited to work together with the STC Foundation Board members.
“I’m excited about the future opportunities we will bring to the STC community,” said González. “And we hope to encourage our community to come together to celebrate the opportunity we can provide for the future of our region.”
Rodríguez said González and the entire Foundation Board of Directors bring a wealth of knowledge that is invaluable to STC.
“Together we are leading a new era of opportunities for students and their families, and we have a great team on board,” he said. “We officially have an STC Foundation Board of Directors, and it has been a privilege joining STC and establishing this foundation that will change lives for generations to come. For this, I’d like to acknowledge our college president and board of trustees for their contributions and careful guidance on this transition.”
STC President Ricardo J. Solis said the goal was to provide a seamless transition to enter this new chapter.
“Continuous innovation is our ultimate advantage,” said Solis. “STC needs the support of donors and business partners, so that together, we change lives and continue to transform the Rio Grande Valley and ensure community success.”
To learn more about the South Texas College Foundation or to become a donor, call 956-872-2048, or log on to:
https://www.southtexascollege.edu/foundation
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David A. Díaz contributed to this article. For more on this and other Texas legislative news stories that affect the Rio Grande Valley metropolitan region, please log on to Titans of the Texas Legislature (TitansoftheTexasLegislature.com).
