Our History
Choose to Succeed was founded in 2012 to execute a strategy supported by the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, The Ewing Halsell Foundation, and other private foundations and community leaders to attract high-performing charter schools to San Antonio. After extensive research, charter school partners were selected – including BASIS Schools, Great Hearts Academies, IDEA Public Schools, and KIPP San Antonio. Choose to Succeed’s portfolio has grown from 800 students to over 16,600 for the 2017-18 school year.
Our Future
A high-quality education is imperative for the futures of San Antonio’s K-12 students, as well as the city’s economic future. The reality is that San Antonio has high-skilled job openings that are not being filled because of a lack of qualified candidates. Choose to Succeed is excited to be working with nascent and growing charter networks including Compass Rose Academy, Promesa Academy Charter School, and School of Science and Technology to expand the number of high-quality educational options for San Antonio students and their families. The Choose to Succeed portfolio, including incubating charters, will serve over 60,000 students by the 2026-27 school year.
Our Leadership
Christoper “Chip” Haass, CEO
Guided by the desire to build San Antonio as a “city of choice,” Chip served as a member of the San Antonio City Council from 2003 to 2007. During his tenure as Councilmember, he helped strengthen the foundation for a more balanced and progressive San Antonio. His tenure was founded on the systematic improvement of the lives of everyday, working class families. After fulfilling the maximum allowable terms as Councilmember, Chip worked as an executive of various public and private sector organizations. Before long, Chip formed The Haass Group, a strategic consulting firm which lead him to advocate for school choice and represent various leading organizations within the charter school arena. As a former educator and policymaker, Chip understands firsthand the impact K-12 education has on the economic development of a community. He believes that access to high-quality educational options for young scholars and their families is the foremost issue facing San Antonio as well as the entire country. Chip serves on the board of the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation, a non-profit that raises, on average, half a million dollars annually for college scholarships and formerly served on the board of BASIS Schools. Chip holds a Master of Education and Bachelor of Science in Public Policy and History from Texas Christian University. He and his wife Cariño Cortez-Haass, live in San Antonio with their young daughter.
STEVE LEWIS, BOARD CHAIRMAN
Steve C. Lewis is the Chairman of the Board of Jefferson Bank, a community Bank with 11 locations in San Antonio and surrounding communities. Steve also serves as Chairman of the Board of Jefferson Bancshares, Inc. Currently, Steve serves as a Director of the Texas Wildlife Association, Trustee of the Texas Wildlife Association Foundation, Honorary Director of Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, former Director of San Antonio Zoological Society, Director of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, and Director of Cibolo Nature Center. Steve graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration and holds a law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law. Steve and his wife, Susan, have three sons.
WILL HARTE, BOARD MEMBER
Will Harte is a native Texan and active in ranching and the oil and gas business. For the past decade, Will has been actively involved in supporting education initiatives. He currently serves as Secretary of the Choose to Succeed board and is a trustee on several other private foundations including The Ewing Halsell Foundation. He is a former trustee of the Texas Agricultural Land Trust and the Texas Wildlife Association.
HENRY GONZALEZ, BOARD MEMBER
Henry Gonzalez is a native of San Antonio. A practicing lawyer, he has been involved in promoting high performing charter schools since 2008. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD from the Baylor University School of Law. He and his wife, Barbie, have three children.
GEORGE PEDRAZA, BOARD MEMBER
George Pedraza is a Wealth Advisor at Wells Fargo Private Bank. He previously worked for 25 years as an Investment Banker in Texas in the municipal securities field. He has been involved in the educational field since 2003 as a founding member of the Brooks Academy of Science and Engineering, a San Antonio area Charter School. He later became CEO of Academica Management SW, LLC, an educational services company working with Charter Schools in San Antonio. Prior to that he was an Assistant to the City Manager of the City of San Antonio. He has also been a developer of affordable single-family housing and was President of American Sunrise in San Antonio. He has been a consultant to various non-profit housing providers, charter school organizations in Texas, Miami and Los Angeles as well as the Annie E. Casey Foundation. He has served on multiple boards including the Center for State & Local Government Excellence in Washington, DC, the ICMA Retirement Corporation and the TECABOCA Marianist Center for Spiritual Renewal in Mountain Home, TX. In addition to Choose to Succeed, George is currently on the boards of the Texas Charter Schools Association, Ballet San Antonio and Central Catholic High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio, a master’s degree in City & Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. He and his wife Rachel have four children.
Victoria B. Rico, BOARD MEMBER
Victoria is a native of San Antonio and the current Chairwoman and Trustee of the George W. Brackenridge Foundation. In 2009, she became a trustee for the Foundation and has been heavily involved in San Antonio’s education quality ever since. In 2011, she published “A Proposed Strategy for San Antonio: High-Quality Charter Replication” which was the foundation for Choose to Succeed and its efforts – which she founded and served as Chairwoman through 2014. In addition to her work with the Brackenridge Foundation, Victoria has served on the board of BASIS Schools and Great Hearts Academies, and is currently an IDEA Public Schools board member. She holds a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. She and her husband, Martin, live in San Antonio with their two children.
