Board of Directors and Staff

Ms. Darby-Hudgens joined the center in 2017. 

Ms. Darby-Hudgens has pursued fair housing advocacy and research since 2012, when she completed her thesis, Zoned Out: Linking Residential Zoning and Schooling Performance. During her research, she read 169 municipal zoning regulations, and collected and coded over 30 exclusionary land use strategies used across Connecticut. Zoned Out was included in the 2015 Connecticut Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing. In 2017 she began researching Connecticut’s fair housing history. Through the course of the past four years, she has presented Connecticut’s 100 Years of Fair Housing History to hundreds of people and produced three walking tours.  Fionnuala earned a B.A. from Trinity College and a MPA from the University of Connecticut.

Mr. Dresser joined the Center in 2014.

He runs fair housing tests, works directly with clients who believe they have been the victim of housing discrimination, and conducts outreach and education regarding fair housing laws. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Dresser worked in Los Angeles with the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights in Los Angeles (CHIRLA), an immigrants’ rights organization. While with CHIRLA, Mr. Dresser conducted labor tests and analyzed data to investigate issues dealing with national origin discrimination by employers.

Ms. Martinez came to the Center as a foreclosure prevention staff attorney in 2012. Before joining the Center, she served as an attorney advisor for the Social Security Administration, Office of Appellate Operations in Washington, D.C. Ms. Martinez received a B.S. with honors in Management and International Business from the University of Connecticut and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. While in law school, she interned with the Community Law Center in Baltimore.

For more than a decade, Ms. Ortiz has been responsible for coordinating the Center’s administrative needs, completing intakes with new clients in English and Spanish, and assisting the fair housing and fair lending staff with their cases, including provision of translation services. She also assists with event planning and helps staff schedule education and outreach events.

Ms. Rattray joined the center in 2020 as their Education and Outreach Coordinator. Rashida’s professional experience is rooted in foreclosure prevention and mitigation counseling as well as legal administration. In her previous work as a housing counselor, Rashida assisted over 40 families gaining positive outcomes while going through foreclosure. She also has a strong background in community engagement that was fostered by her work for the City of Waterbury. At the Center, Rashida facilitates outreach to a multitude of different stakeholders by planning and executing fair housing trainings, maintaining the Center’s social media channels, and brainstorming new ways to connect with the people we serve. She is actively pursuing her passion for advocating for people in all she does.

Ms. Roman joined the Center in 2022 to coordinate fair housing tests, and assist with fair lending investigations for the Center. Previously she worked in the greater New Haven community on emergency rental assistance programs, affordable housing projects and has provided financial counseling. Her experience with subsidy programs and housing finance products fuels her drive to pursue housing equity and racial justice in her work. Ms. Roman received a B.A. from Central Connecticut State University and is a candidate for her M.P.A. from Post University, in May of 2022.

Ms. Romanow joined the Connecticut Fair Housing Center as a staff attorney in 2021. Previously, Ms. Romanow was a staff attorney at Community Legal Aid in Springfield, MA, where she practiced in the education and disability benefits units. She received her B.A. from Smith College and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.