Florencia Velasco Fortner

Florencia Velasco Fortner is the President and CEO of The Concilio and a daughter of immigrants whose personal story propels every step she has taken in her career and her commitment to serving others.

In her decades-long career leading the nonprofit organization, Florencia’s personal ties to Texas and the families she supports have only grown stronger. Florencia, an organizer at heart, believes in a bottom-up approach to inspiring the next generation of Latino leaders. She strongly believes that creating a better world for children starts with cultivating open and collaborative relationships with their parents. Her time with The Concilio is a testament to living out this mission.

Since Florencia’s tenure at The Concilio began in 2005, she and her team have impacted over 1,000,000 individuals, 20,000 parents, and their children across 28 regional school districts. Their on-the-ground approach focuses on bringing culturally trained professionals into the communities whose families would benefit most from The Concilio’s work. Florencia leads her team to set the gold standard in programming for Latinos, strengthening families and communities.

Given her career as a recognized thought leader, Latino Leaders Magazine named Florencia one of their “101 Most Influential Latinos.” She also received the 2023 George W. Bush Institute Trailblazer Citation Award, the first Latina ever to earn the honor. The award honored her career as an expert in parental engagement and Latino equity. Additionally, D Magazine acknowledged Florencia’s contributions to the nonprofit sector, specifically in her impactful work benefiting the Latino community in North Texas, by presenting her with the 2023 Leadership Excellence Award.

Her individual achievements are a nod to her and The Concilio’s collective mission as educators and advocates — to create a world that makes it easier and possible for the next generation of Latino leaders to know not only that they belong but that they can co-create a new future for themselves and their communities.

As the child of immigrants, Florencia’s work with The Concilio is personal. She knows the difference it can make for a child and their family to know that someone is championing them and paving the way toward a brighter future.

Florencia has blazed a trail through her work ethic, empathetic leadership style, and business acumen. Since taking the reins of The Concilio, Florencia has grown their annual revenue from $400,000 to $5,000,000.

In addition to her work with The Concilio, Florencia is a pastor’s wife and serves on the Deaconess board and teaches Sunday School. She is a proud mother of a college student. Florencia has served on numerous boards, including the Dallas Regional Chamber, Commit, SMU-Tower Center, UTSW President’s Advisory Council, and others. She is a former Marshall Memorial Fellow and a Leadership Dallas alumna. Florencia resides in Dallas and enjoys cooking and running with her dog, Wallace.