About Us

Frances Espinoza, Executive Director

Frances Espinoza is a seasoned nonprofit executive and civil rights advocate with more than two decades of leadership experience advancing equity in housing and community services. Since 2010, she has served as Executive Director of the North Texas Fair Housing Center, where she has led strategic initiatives to combat housing discrimination, expand public awareness, and strengthen enforcement of fair housing protections. Under her leadership, the organization has investigated more than 1,500 fair housing complaints, including foreclosure discrimination cases involving major banking institutions.

Ms. Espinoza has also contributed to nationwide fair housing testing studies focused on discrimination based on race, disability, familial status, and sexual orientation, helping generate critical data to inform policy and enforcement efforts.

Prior to relocating to Texas, she served as Executive Director of two fair housing agencies in Southern California, where she built a strong record of organizational leadership, advocacy, and community impact.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. In recognition of her leadership, she received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the California Association of Nonprofits.

Throughout her career, Ms. Espinoza has remained deeply committed to advancing civil rights, fostering inclusive communities, and creating meaningful opportunities for underserved populations.

Nashla Kalifa

Dewey Marshall, Director of Advocacy

Dewey Marshall has been an active community organizer and policy advocate for over ten years. Born and raised in Denton County, Dewey has deep ties to North Texas. Since starting his first housing advocacy job at the North Texas Fair Housing Center in 2019, he has advocated for fair housing, tenants' rights, and improved systems for young people in homelessness. He has organized several successful housing campaigns at the local level and has done housing and homelessness policy advocacy at the state level over the past four legislative sessions. His work has been featured by CBS News Texas, the Texas Standard, and many local news publications. He currently works remotely from Durham, North Carolina, as Director of Advocacy at the North Texas Fair Housing Center. Dewey holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Texas Woman's University and looks forward to starting a graduate program next month, where he will study Public Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When not advocating for fair housing, Dewey enjoys reading about niche history, playing amateur poker, and walking his dog, Stevie.

Aaron Renaud, Fair Housing Manager

The North Texas Fair Housing Center was founded in 2010 after the 2008 financial housing market collapse. In response to banks seizing control of properties throughout DFW, banks chose to upkeep properties in white neighborhoods while letting properties in Black and Brown neighborhoods go dilapidated. After an investigation, money was awarded to found the North Texas Fair Housing Center. Since its inception, founding executive director Frances Espinoza has led the organization to successfully advocate for hundreds of individuals and file fair housing complaints for the past 15 years. Before the North Texas Fair Housing Center was founded, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was the largest metropolitan area in the country without a fair housing initiative program. The North Texas Fair Housing Center continues to advocate for fair housing across North Texas.