Brundage, with two decades of experience in affordable housing and homelessness, was previously executive director of housing stability and senior vice president of community impact at the nonprofit United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. She was with that organization for 17 years. She got her start working in housing and homelessness at United Way of Tarrant County. She eventually became a board member of the housing response system in the county.
The last CEO, William Eubanks III, left amid controversy over a land purchase for the organization that earned his wife a $24,000 commission, according to The Dallas Morning News. Eubanks left the organization less than a month after the charity launched an investigation into the matter. Reports said that Eubanks' leadership style and staff turnover were also concerns that were being investigated by an outside law firm.
An attorney for Eubanks told the Morning News at the time that "Habitat’s investigation was a 'total farce' with 'no due process' and 'no semblance of fairness, much less humanity.' Eubanks, who is Black, also suggested his race might've played a part in his ouster through his attorney, although the organization never publicly acknowledged his claims.
The CEO search committee included Roy Whitehead, Dallas Habitat Executive Committee Board Member; Dave Crawford, former Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity CEO; board member Michael Koehler; Sharon Lahr, president of NextBank; Dallas Habitat homeowners and board members Rivi Lopez and Jason Smith; Board Chair Steve Westerheide; and Aleta Stampley, vice president and community development officer at Tolleson Wealth Management.
Regarding her time in Tarrant County, Brundage said she was “really trying to piece together why homelessness and housing were not talked about in the same breath.” She added, “Why are we not talking about that we need more affordable housing when we’re talking about ending homelessness?”
Brundage said she’s spent years learning about homelessness and affordable housing and how to best connect them. “How can we push organizations working in the homelessness intervention space to also do prevention work?” she said.
She’s founding board chair of the Dallas Housing Coalition, which advocates for the creation, preservation and protection of affordable housing in the city. She will continue to chair the Dallas Housing Coalition as she takes on her new position at Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity.
The new CEO has also held leadership positions in initiatives such as the Dallas Rental Association Collaborative, which provided $40 million in rental assistance to over 7,500 families, and North Texas Cares, a collaborative effort which distributed some $58.7 million in grants to more than 1,000 nonprofits across 16 counties.“How can we push organizations working in the homelessness intervention space to also do prevention work?” – Ashley O. Brundage, Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity
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While the work is hard, what keeps her going is positive energy in the Dallas community, as well as the need to address the housing and homelessness crisis.
“There's a lot of folks who want to help and want to figure out the solution to the affordable housing crisis and the homelessness that we're seeing now, and so that helps keep me going, plus the successes that we are seeing, like the small things along the way.”
For example, she helped the Dallas Housing Coalition as it advocated for $200 million to go toward affordable housing in the city’s 2024 bond package. The group fell short of its goal but was able to get a few million dollars in the bond allocated for housing, a first for Dallas. The next challenge will be getting voters to approve the housing allocation, she said. “Celebrating the little things is really helpful in these cases, because it's going to be a marathon, and not a sprint to try and solve,” she said.
As she takes on her new role, Brundage said she wants to focus on developing new strategies for the organization, emphasizing innovative housing solutions and advocating for systemic policy change that promotes the creation, preservation and protection of affordable homes.
"We are thrilled to welcome Ashley O. Brundage to Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity as our new, and first woman CEO; she is a force for good with a proven track record of convening groups, building strong teams, and leading with collaboration and innovation," Ashley Sheetz, Habitat chair of the board of directors, said in a press release. "She is the exact person we need to take our organization into its next phase of growth and impact."
