ASHLEY OWEN BRUNDAGE, MSSW

CEO OF Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity

Ashley Owen Brundage, MSSW is the Chief Executive Officer of the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, committed to building a better Dallas through the transformative power of affordable homeownership. Ashley’s vision for Habitat for Humanity includes strengthening our advocacy platform to create systems level change that will impact the housing crisis, development of innovative solutions to scale the availability of affordable housing, and strategically bringing together public and private partnerships to break the cycle of poverty and transform our communities. 

Most recently, Ashley was the Executive Director of Housing Stability and Senior Vice President of Community Impact for United Way Dallas, where she worked for 17 years. As a fierce advocate for affordable housing and ending homelessness, Ashley was responsible for spearheading United Way’s work in this space. 

In April 2020, Ashley formed the Dallas Rental Association Collaborative (DRAC), a city-wide collaboration with 16 community-based organizations, resulting in a contract award from the City of Dallas/CARES Act funding of almost $40 million to United Way. This effort kept 7,500 Dallas residents in their homes.

As the country shut down, Ashley launched North Texas Cares, a funders collaborative of 47 foundations and United Ways across 16 counties. This effort resulted in $58.7M in grants to more than 1,000 different nonprofits.

Ashley also led the 2020 transformation and reconstitution of the Board of Directors for both Housing Forward (formerly Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance) and the All Neighbors Coalition Continuum of Care. The results of which have returned more than $100 million of federal, city, county and private dollars to the Continuum of Care. More importantly, it facilitated the creation of hundreds of housing units and the supportive services that has allowed our community to significantly reduce unsheltered homelessness.

A committed community advocate, Ashley serves on several local boards, including serving as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Dallas Housing Coalition and as key spokesperson for the group advocating for increased city bond funding into affordable housing. She also serves on the Board of HousingForward, The All Neighbors Coalition, and the DFW Housing Consortium.

Ashley is a trusted resource for City of Dallas Staff and City Council and has served in leadership roles for several city commissions. She was appointed to the 2016 City of Dallas Homelessness Commission, recently completed her service to the Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee of the 2024 City of Dallas Bond Task Force and currently serves on the Dallas Area Partnership for Ending and Preventing Homelessness. 

A native Texan, Ashley grew up in Coppell and graduated from Coppell High School. She majored in psychology at Texas A&M University, has her Master’s in Social Work from The University of Texas at Arlington, and is a member of Leadership Dallas Class of 2019. She is married to Chris and is the proud momma of Owen and Mary.