Advisor | Facilitator | Consultant

LaTanya is founder and principal of CauseAdvance, a social change advisory practice based in Houston, Texas, where she partners with clients to reimagine possibilities and plan how they take action for a more just world.  

She  is a skilled strategist with more than 20 years of experience in organizational development, philanthropy, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. LaTanya has proven success leading enterprise level change, improving outcomes for underrepresented individuals, and launching first-time initiatives. She leverages her expertise to support nonprofit leaders, businesses, and individuals that are committed to advancing opportunities for all people.

Having sat on both sides of the table--as a solicitor and distributor of funding—LaTanya realized early that a gap existed between the two worlds. Race and social capital were often deciding factors in determining which organizations and ideas received support. Seeking to more effectively influence how resources are allocated, she deliberately transitioned from nonprofit leadership into philanthropy.  

Making  equity a priority and increasing social impact are central purposes of her work through CauseAdvance. She is a consultant for the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund Flexible Leadership Award and the David & Lucille Packard Foundation LeaderPower Collaborative. LaTanya has led equity initiatives for Casey Family Programs, United Way, and she initiated and co-planned the first equity and criminal justice programs for the Greater Houston Grantmakers’ Forum. 

LaTanya is passionate about leveraging the collective resources of Black philanthropists and in 2019 launched Black Philanthropy Houston, a first-of-its-kind initiative to inspire, connect, and inform Houston donors.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Before founding CauseAdvance, LaTanya was Donor Engagement Director and a key relationship manager for a $20 million portfolio of donor advised funds at the Greater Houston Community Foundation. She led an innovative revamp of donor education programs, managed a partnership to create the first regional community indicators dataset, facilitated the launch of the first Black giving circle, and supported grantmaking of the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee, Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, and the Youth Homelessness Fund. 

As executive director of The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston, she directed the largest free financial education program for low income women and girls reaching 6,000 annually and initiated the first and only empirical study on the charitable giving patterns of Houston women. 

LaTanya began her career as the founding director of a national faith-based nonprofit and has held senior roles in operations and external relations at community-based organizations and City Year, an AmeriCorps partner. 

EDUCATION

• MPAff, The LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of  Texas at Austin 
• BA, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
• Public Policy & International Affairs Fellow, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley

PERSONAL

LaTanya is a native Houstonian and fifth generation Texan. She enjoys travel, live music, long walks, and well-aged tequila.