DHA establishes policy group

DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas announced today it has established a team that will lead the agency’s policy initiatives that enable DHA to deliver on its mission.

The group will be led by Dr. Myriam Igoufe, serving as DHA’s vice president of Policy Development & Research. Dr. Igoufe is responsible for research on trends and conditions related to people in poverty and the impacts of segregation, a shortage of affordable housing, limited access to gainful employment, health care, transportation and disinvestment in the surrounding community as well as the development of strategic evidence-based policy to address these matters. Her work involves developing and implementing short-term and long-term strategies designed to facilitate the achievement of DHA’s goals and priorities which includes addressing long-term segregation and the affordable housing crisis in Dallas and North Texas.

Dr. Igoufe is a recent University of Texas at Arlington doctoral graduate in urban planning and public policy. She led the North Texas Regional Housing Assessment analysis, which included 21 cities and housing authorities across North Texas, as co-principal investigator and project manager.

“I’m excited and honored to help lead a department that is seeking innovative ways to address long-persisting inequities and empower individuals and communities for success,” says Dr. Igoufe. “Measuring and understanding the challenges faced by individuals living in poverty is critical to eradicating the issue. For families to become self-sufficient, we have to be cognizant of the neighborhood quality and challenges in which these families reside, their relative access to supportive resources, and correspondingly strategize our initiatives to effectively foster housing choice and altogether upward mobility.”

Joining Dr. Igoufe as a key leader of the Policy Development & Research team is Dr. Maggie Deichert. Dr. Deichert is the director of Policy Development and Research for DHA. In her position, Dr. Deichert collects and evaluates geographic and socio-economic data to create clear and concise reports that assess the contributing factors of poverty in North Texas. Dr. Deichert contributes towards DHA’s goal to provide affordable quality housing across North Texas by researching the current conditions of communities in poverty and developing strategies to combat these conditions.

Dr. Deichert is a recent Vanderbilt University doctoral graduate in political science with a focus on American politics and statistical methodology. Dr. Deichert’s dissertation explored how political identity affects the daily social interactions of U.S. communities. She has extensive experience in using research as a means of implementing change in communities.

“It’s extremely important for us to explore how cultural stereotypes, income, and of course, access to quality affordable housing all impact the success of people on a community-level,” says Dr. Deichert. “Our department is eager to evaluate ways DHA can be a catalyst for change by enhancing quality of life and developing more inclusive, sustainable housing solutions as a means of reducing poverty.”

“DHA is investing in the future of affordable housing for North Texas by establishing this group,” says Troy Broussard, president and chief executive officer of DHA. “Our strategies to help address affordable housing issues will be data-driven and evidence-based, leveraging the knowledge and insights of this talented team,” he concluded.

To learn more about Dr. Igoufe and Dr. Deichert, please visit our team page.