Latina Leader: Maggie Aguas

Since last November, AVANCE-Austin has been fortunate to have a compassionate leader of the Home Visitation Team. Thoughtfully innovative, Maggie continues to guide the Home Visitation component of the Parent-Child Education Program to be mindfully all-inclusive of each parent’s needs. The genuine warmth and caring nature that Maggie exudes empowers mothers and staff members alike. Keep reading to learn about her inspirations and motivations!

What’s your role at AVANCE? And why were you interested in taking on this role?

I serve as the Home Educator Lead for AVANCE Austin. Prior to coming on board with AVANCE I was working at a domestic violence coalition on their public policy team– it was awesome work but I missed direct service, specifically working with Latina immigrant women. I was fortunate enough to come across the Home Educator Lead job posting and it had everything I was looking for, an established non-profit doing great work in the local community with that allowed me to work one on one with Latino parents and their children. I could not pass up the opportunity!

What’s your passion project?

There are so many great and amazing things happening right now with the home visitation component of our program but the project that has really captured my attention lately is the AVANCE parent alumni group. Under the direction of Anurita Mittra, Director of Programs, our team has worked hard to bring this idea to life. One of our objectives is to reengage parents that graduated from our 9 month Parent Child Education Program and continue to offer them programs and support in reaching their goals. The most exciting part of this for me is we’re creating an opportunity for some of the alumni to take on leadership roles and we’ll be using their feedback to inform the services and programming that we’re providing them. How awesome is that?!

What drives you to do what you do? What motivates you?

It’s simple, a desire to help parents recognize their strengths and how capable and influential they are in the lives of their children and the future of the community they live in.

Who inspires you?

My mom. Growing up my mom struggled as a single mother – she had a limited education, no resources, and not very many options. She overcame so many challenges and was resilient in the face of adversity. My mom lifted 7 Latino children out of poverty and provided us access to an education, resources and she instilled in us a belief that our options were endless. I see my mom’s strength in all of the AVANCE moms, that too inspires me.

Maggie, you are an inspiration to the AVANCE team! Mil gracias for everything you do!