About VAMOS

Thirty years of helping
Valley kids get to college.

The Valley Alliance of Mentors for Opportunities and Scholarships was founded in 1996 by a group of South Texas business leaders who were tired of watching local kids miss out on college for the lack of money.

The 2025 scholarship class — 63 students awarded a combined $1 million in renewable, four-year scholarships at our 29th Annual Banquet.

Our Story

It began with Alonzo Cantú.

In 1996, NAFTA was about to reshape South Texas. Alonzo Cantú, a builder and businessman who was the first in his own family to finish college, gathered some Valley leaders around his table. His question was simple: how do we make sure our own kids get a shot at this future, instead of watching it pass them by?

The answer they wrote together was VAMOS — the Valley Alliance of Mentors for Opportunities and Scholarships. The model was simple and demanding: four-year renewable scholarships, real mentorship, and an expectation that scholars would come back and lift the next class.

That first year, VAMOS funded a handful of students. Since then we've given $26 million to more than 1,400 students, and 96% of them earn their degrees, which is well above the national average for first-generation students. They've become doctors, dentists, attorneys, engineers, and teachers. A few sit on our board now. Most have stayed in the Valley.

The mission hasn't changed in thirty years. The Valley has.

Mission

Making the dream of a college education a reality for graduating high school seniors of the Rio Grande Valley.

Vision

A Valley that grows its own leaders: students who go to college, come home, and help the next kid do the same.

Leadership

The people who run VAMOS.

VAMOS is run by a working board of Valley business leaders, physicians, educators, and attorneys who give their time, their expertise, and often their own money, so that the donations we raise can go to students.