About Our Founder

Tracy Ann Wolff

Community Involvement

For over two decades, Tracy Wolff has been a community volunteer and fundraiser focusing primarily on child and family issues.

In 1994, Tracy served as the co-founder and advisor of “SMART START,” – a $3 million San Antonio Area Foundation trust fund focused on improving the quality of childcare programs throughout the community. SMART START awards grants to childcare programs and home care providers who seek to become nationally accredited. As First Lady of San Antonio, Tracy launched a SMART START multi-media educational campaign to provide early childcare information for families. SMART START operates a full-time bilingual hotline 65 SMART.

Above and beyond SMART START, Tracy has chaired numerous fundraisers and raised thousands of dollars for community needs: A “Book Telethon” for the Library Foundation; “Sticky Wickets” a croquet tournament at Blessed Sacrament Academy, now an official Fiesta event; the “International Gala” which raised the initial funds needed to start the CASA program with sister cities in Mexico on behalf of the City of San Antonio; “Speaking of Women’s Health” with KLRN; and, “The Heart Gallery of San Antonio” a unique photo exhibit of children in foster care waiting to be adopted.

In 2001, Tracy founded the Hidalgo Foundation of Bexar County and has served as its President ever since. She was originally charged with raising private, philanthropic funds toward the restoration and renovation of the Bexar County Courthouse, the oldest and largest historic courthouse in continuous operation in Texas. Because of her personal commitment to children, she included in the fundraising goal the construction of two child abuse and neglect courts as well as additional support areas – all of which were completed in January of 2005.

Because of her efforts, the Bexar County Children’s Courts are the first of its kind in Texas, second of its kind in the country, and were named the model for the nation by the William & Mary Law School’s Courtroom 21 Project. These courts include evidence-based programming such as a Family Drug Treatment Court, the Early Intervention Program, and the College-Bound Docket.

As the First Lady of Bexar County, Tracy recently joined her husband, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, in the creation of the first digital public library in the nation, BiblioTech. The mission of BiblioTech is to “provide all Bexar County residents with the opportunity to access technology for the purpose of enhancing education and literacy, promoting reading and equipping the citizens of Bexar County with the necessary tools to thrive as citizens of the 21st century.”

BiblioTech opened September 14, 2013 and quickly garnered national and international media attention from outlets such as the BBC, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and NPR. It has also appeared on several national television media outlets.

The inaugural library branch, BiblioTech South, is located at 3505 Pleasanton Road and occupies 5,000 square feet inside a county-owned facility. Since its opening, BiblioTech has opened additional library branches on the Westside and Eastside of Bexar County as well as various portals and kiosks at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), University Health System (UHS), the Courthouse, the adult detention center and other venues and public spaces. Tracy’s fundraising efforts have resulted in a library collection that includes more than 160,000 books along with numerous digital platforms where individuals can learn languages, study for their GED, or read current events through various national and regional periodicals.

Tracy’s current efforts are focused on the development and implementation of BiblioTech EDU – the first-in-the-county public high school library that is entirely digital. Blending her interest in child and family issues with the BiblioTech model promises to revolutionize how high school children learn and access information and quality literature. The first BiblioTech EDU library branch is scheduled to open in early 2021 at CAST High School on the former Fox Tech high school campus. CAST High School is a charter school within the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) and will have an expected enrollment of 1,600 students.

Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement Award, City of San Antonio, Department of Community Initiatives, “for building public awareness and raising the quality of early childhood education”
  • Distinguished Service Award, The San Antonio Association for the Education of Young Children, BEST of TEXAS - The Texas Work Family
  • Bexar County Pioneer Award, Restoration of the Bexar County Courthouse
  • Faces of the Millennium
  • The Dr. Dale Wood Award for Advocacy of Children and Families
  • The Good Scout Award, Alamo Area of Council Boy Scouts of America
  • Peacemaker Award, San Antonio Bar Foundation
  • Mother of the Year Award, AVANCE San Antonio
  • Headliner Award, Association for Women in Communication San Antonio Professional Chapter
  • The San Antonian Award, The San Antonio North Chamber

Special Honors

  • The Center for Health Care Services, 711 East Josephine, San Antonio, Texas was dedicated and renamed "The Nelson and Tracy Wolff Center for Child and Family Development" in honor of their many contributions to improve the lives of children and families in San Antonio.
  • Tracy and Nelson Wolff received the "Excellence in Leadership Award" from Texas Lutheran University.
  • The NAJIM Foundation of San Antonio naming of a "Respite Care Home for Children" - The Tracy Wolff Home.
  • A plaque located on the Historic Bexar County Courthouse grounds honoring Tracy Ann Wolff and the Hidalgo Foundation for the restoration of the Courthouse and the Lady Justice Fountain.
  • The San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame.

Tracy studied at Our Lady of the Lake University, majoring in communications.