Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
UT Dallas Degree: BA – Political Science, 1978
Profession: Chief Executive Officer – Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center
William “Bill” Holston received a BA from UT Dallas and a JD from Southern Methodist University. In 2023, he became Chief Operations Officer of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center (DEAC) and named Chief Executive Officer in 2024. DEAC services include providing pro bono legal advice and representation, housing assistance, rent relief. The organization assists all Dallas County tenants regardless of income, race, immigration status, or native language.
From 2012 to 2023, Holston served as Executive Director of Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, representing immigrant survivors of human rights violations. Prior to that, he practiced trial law with Sullivan and Holston. In private practice, he was a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas.
In 2015, Holston was named a Distinguished Alumni for Public Service by SMU’s Dedman School of Law. In 2019, he was honored with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award by the Dallas Bar Association. In 2019, he received the J. Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award from the State Bar of Texas. In 2020, he was awarded the Patrick Wiseman Award by the Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Section of the State Bar of Texas.
Mr. Holston is a member of the North Texas Chapter of Master Naturalists, and guides hikes in the Great Trinity Forest. He writes an online column for D Magazine, Law Man Walking.
He is married to his best friend Jill, a Dyslexia Specialist for Richardson ISD, and they have two grown sons. They are members of Greenland Hills United Methodist Church, a Reconciling Congregation for the LGBTQ community.
Learn to write. Pay attention to the world. Learn how to give back and don’t wait until you graduate to begin thinking about what to do after school.