DALLAS, Texas — The Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation has restructured its board of directors and set a new strategic course aimed at expanding its research footprint and establishing a permanent, endowed academic home.
Meeting in Dallas on Sept. 3, the Foundation seated a governing board of nine Latino leaders—balanced by political affiliation, region, and gender—and approved a strategic plan to strengthen its nonpartisan research on Texas Hispanics.
Founded in 2019, the Dallas-based foundation conducts methodologically rigorous research on the political, economic, and social attitudes of Hispanic Texans in partnership with Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Hispanics represent nearly 40 percent of the state’s population and constitute the largest demographic group and fastest-growing sector of the electorate in Texas.
Under the governance plan, the Foundation confirmed a formal separation between board oversight and executive management. Regina Montoya, a Dallas attorney, former White House staffer, and civic leader, serves as Chairman of the Board. Founder Jason Villalba continues as President and Chief Executive Officer, while Dr. Mark P. Jones, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, continues to direct research operations.
The Foundation appointed four new members to its board of directors:
Dr. Juliet Villarreal García: Founding president of the University of Texas at Brownsville, an architect of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and a 2022 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Justice Eva Guzman: Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas with extensive statewide legal standing.
The Hon. Pete Gallego: Former U.S. Representative and longtime Texas state legislator representing West Texas and the border region.
Massey Villarreal: Houston business leader and former national chair of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
The new appointees join five continuing directors: Board Chair Regina Montoya; former Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade; former Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte; public finance leader Robert A. Estrada; and CEO Jason Villalba, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives.
The Foundation also announced that departing directors Elizabeth Lorenz and Trey Newton will join David Cabrales and Victor Leal on the organization’s Board of Advisors.
The board adopted a four-part strategic framework focused on:
Maintaining a reconstituted, bipartisan governing board.
Establishing a professional fundraising operation to support research expansion.
Deepening its ongoing research partnership with Rice University's Baker Institute.
Securing an endowed, named research institute on a private Texas university campus within three to five years.
"Providing our elected officials and policy makers with accurate, robust, and non-political data and information on Texas Latinos is our North Star," Villalba said in a statement. "This board gives us the standing, the reach, and the credibility to do that work at the level the moment demands. We are building an institution that will outlast any one of us."
Montoya echoed those sentiments, emphasizing the bipartisan alignment of the updated board.
"What unites these leaders is a shared belief in honest, nonpartisan research and in service to Texas," Montoya said. "We are proud to guide the Foundation into its next chapter, and grateful to the directors whose service brought us to this point."
