Staff/Consultants

Marianne DeLeon, Development Director

Marianne began her work with Green Doors in October of 2009. Prior to joining Green Doors, Marianne served as the Development Director for Soulforce, Equality Texas, and the Resource Center of Dallas, organizations dedicated to the equality movement. She was responsible for directing the fund development programs for the organizations, including grant writing, events, and donor development. Before joining the equality movement, Marianne worked as a Resource Development Specialist with the International Rescue Committee, which advocates on behalf of the displaced, addressing the root causes of violence and standing up for the world's most vulnerable populations. She worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova for two years on women's reproductive rights and raised funds to support women's healthcare initiatives. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and her Master of Arts from Southern Methodist University. Marianne is Cuban American and a native of Tampa, Florida. She has nearly 9 years of experience in fund development in a variety of nonprofit settings.

Greg Esparza, Volunteer Coordinator

Greg joined Green Doors as Volunteer Coordinator in October 2008. He organizes and directs volunteer opportunities for Green Doors, ranging from small individual projects to larger furniture builds, gardening days, and tree plantings. Prior to joining Green Doors, Greg co-produced the successful local symposium Real Community Is Real Art: A Texas Workshop on the Arts and Urban Development. Currently, Greg also is involved in other projects and organizations surrounding issues of housing and design in Austin, including AIA Design Voice, Real Community Austin, and the Congress for the New Urbanism, Central Texas Chapter. Greg holds a B.A. degree in Architecture and Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin. In his off time, Greg enjoys traveling, speaking Portuguese, listening and playing music, and cooking.

Frank Fernandez, Executive Director

Frank joined Green Doors as Executive Director in March 2006. He oversees all core functions and is focused on growing the organization to meet the community's acute need for affordable housing. Prior to joining Green Doors, Frank served as Deputy Director for PeopleFund, a community development financial institution. Frank is very active in advocating for affordable housing and folks who have struggled with homelessness. Co-founder of the housing advocacy organization, HousingWorks, he served as Chair of the affordable housing bond campaign that successfully advocated for the passage of the $55 million City of Austin affordable housing bonds in November 2006. He co-chaired the City of Austin's Affordable Housing Incentives Taskforce from Summer 2006 through Spring 2007. Currently, Frank serves as the Chair of the Texas Supportive Housing Coalition, a statewide coalition of supportive housing providers, and Chair of the Austin CHDO Roundtable, the local non-profit housing coalition. He also serves on the Executive Committees of ECHO, Austin's local homeless coalition, and HousingWorks. Prior to moving to Austin, Frank worked on Wall Street for several years as a financial analyst for Salomon Smith Barney providing technical and quantitative support to municipalities and states across the nation, including the State of Connecticut and the City of Detroit. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Harvard University and an M.P.A. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.

Andrea Garcia, Senior Community Manager

Andrea Garcia joined Green Doors as Property Manager in February 2009. Andrea comes with several years experience in the real estate industry and has worked extensively in property management, as well as a community liaison aiding in the relocation of families in the process of achieving self-sufficiency. Andrea also has conducted research studies in education, social and personality psychology, marketing and consumer behavior at national and international levels for various public and private sector entities, including the University of Texas at Austin, Coca Cola, Anheuser Busch, Lottery of Texas, and ConAgra Foods. Her endeavors are well aligned with her vision of social awareness and the need to positively impact our world. She firmly believes that the world can indeed be a better place if we all did our part, a little bit at a time. Andrea is a native of Colombia and holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.

Marla Koosed, Business Manager

Marla Koosed has served as Green Doors' Business Manager since January 2008 and is a certified public accountant. Marla spent several years as a computer programmer, then co-owned and managed two small businesses in the health care field for nine years before going back to college. Marla worked as an auditor in Ernst & Young's Real Estate Group, then entered the commercial real estate industry as a property controller and eventually became a corporate controller. She now specializes in working with small businesses and, in particular, with organizations with which she shares common goals and interests. Marla holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and an M.S. degree in Small Business Perspectives from the University of North Texas.

Christa Noland, Deputy Director

Christa joined Green Doors as Deputy Director in August 2008. Christa has over 12 years experience in the non-profit field working in the areas of administration, programs and development. Prior to joining Green Doors, Christa served as the Director of the Texas Region for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Christa previously served for over seven years as the Director of Programs and Director of Development for Twin City Mission, a regional non-profit social service agency serving individuals who are homeless, abused or in high-risk situations. A few of her recent professional accomplishments include: obtaining $2 million in new state funding for the statewide expansion of an educational outreach program, building the first homeless-specific tax-credit apartment complex in the nation, and receiving a national award for a news interview. Christa holds a B.S. in Sociology and a M.S. in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. In her free time she greatly enjoys listening to live music, reading, traveling and camping.

Cynthia Williams, Office Manager

Cynthia Williams joined Green Doors as Office Manager in January 2009. Cynthia has over 20 years in office administration. Before joining Green Doors, she was Executive Administrator for an affordable home builder. As Office Manager, she ensures the office runs smoothly and project reporting is done on a timely basis. She has many years of volunteering with different entities; currently, she serves as a board member and Finance Director for Wholly Committed Ministries in Austin Texas and is very active in her church. Her daily goal is to help as many people as she can. Cynthia enjoys listening to music, watching movies, and hanging out with family and friends.