Mike Hernandez III’s OP10.33 Helps Boost Brownsville, Texas Economy

 

OP10.33
Image: op1033.org

A respected presence in the Dallas business community, Micheal “Mike” Hernandez III guides D & M Leasing as CEO. Now semi-retired, Mike Hernandez III supports a number of charitable initiatives in the Brownsville community, where he has family roots.

In 2016, Mr. Hernandez reemphasized his connection with a struggling part of Texas through the establishment of OP10.33, a nonprofit development group. A key impetus was that he could not see enough progress when it came to the overall economic environment of Brownsville and Cameron County.

He felt that there should be much higher growth, given the county’s location on the Gulf of Mexico and at a major border. This geographical proximity to conduits of international commerce should support a diversified and sustainable business community.

With his nonprofit group, Micheal Albert Hernandez III has an aim of transforming Cameron County into a region of opportunity by 2033. In addition to fostering business and local government collaboration, OP10.33 has the goal of improving social services for people who are underserved.

OP10.33’s Social Services Work

 

OP10.33
Image: op1033.org

A resident of Dallas, Texas, where he supervises operations at D&M Leasing, Micheal “Mike” Albert Hernandez III is a native of Brownsville. In an effort to support his hometown, Mike Hernandez III works with OP10.33, a Cameron County-based political action committee.

In addition to stimulating job creation and supporting local education initiatives, OP10.33 assists regional social service projects in housing, health care, and public safety. These efforts involve existing school supply drives and creating drives for schools that do not have external support.

Beyond this, OP10.33 aims to work alongside the government to identify homes in need of repair and facilitate the renovation of the properties through its network of volunteers and supporters. The committee will also form a food pantry to provide supplies to the underserved and offer access to pastoral counseling for individuals and families.

OP10.33 will support nonprofit organizations that offer free health care, including hearing and vision services. The committee will also establish healthcare missions of its own with the support of qualified providers.

Mike Hernandez III Speaks About OP10.33 and His Brownsville Vision

Mike Hernandez III
Image: brownsvilleherald.com

Based in Dallas, Mike Hernandez III has guided D & M Leasing for more than two decades and built up one of America’s largest and most successful vehicle leasing companies. Mike Hernandez III currently focuses much of his efforts on the Brownsville economic and social development-focused nonprofit, OP10.33, which he established in early 2016.

Speaking about the political action committee with the Brownsville Herald in 2016, Micheal Albert Hernandez III spoke of having a broad emphasis on improving social services through offerings encompassing computer, Internet, and alternative health care access for low-income residents.

Another focus is on kickstarting activities that revitalize Brownsville’s historic downtown. One project that was under consideration involved restoring the Hotel El Jardin, although that lacks financial feasibility at the present. Not seeking to be a “kingmaker,” Mr. Hernandez described his PAC as providing support for local political candidates who share the same progressive aim as his organization. He has also established a major scholarship program in tandem with the Texas A&M Foundation aimed at students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Mike Hernandez III – Striving to Overcome Inertia in Brownsville, TX

Brownsville, TX

 

Mike Hernandez III is a respected Dallas business executive who has led D & M Leasing for two decades and provided affordable automotive solutions. With a family background in Brownsville, Mike Hernandez III focuses his many philanthropic efforts on supporting the higher education aspirations of local students and recently established the political action committee OP10.33.

Featured in the Brownsville Herald in June 2016, Micheal Albert Hernandez III spoke of this long-held desire to give back to the community where he was born and spent much of his childhood. He has an aim of raising $10 million over the next decade toward efforts to improve economic opportunity and job availability in a region where “not enough has changed.”

He finds particular value in the city’s location on a border by the sea, and finds it difficult to grasp where the community took a wrong direction, economically, to the point where Brownsville was ranked as America’s poorest city by the Houston Chronicle in 2013. Upon reflection, his assessment is that there are no villains in this. Rather, local agencies “work in silos” and do not share a common, collaborative vision for the county.

The Brownsville Poverty Challenge and OP10.33

 

OP10.33
Image: op1033.org

Now in semi-retirement, Micheal Albert Hernandez III has overseen operations at D&M Leasing in Dallas, Texas, since he purchased a stake in the company in 1990. Beyond his work, Mike Hernandez III is involved in local philanthropy, with a focus on his home city of Brownsville.

In 2013, the Houston Chronicle reported that Brownsville was the poorest city in the United States. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 36 percent of the city’s residents lived below the national poverty line, which is more than double the 17 percent average for the State of Texas. Further, the data discovered that over a third of residents had not earned their high school diplomas, whereas almost a quarter only have that diploma and no other educational certification.

In response to this news, Mike Hernandez III formed OP10.33 with the aim of opening up educational opportunities and transforming the Cameron Country area into a more prosperous region. The organization funds projects throughout the area that further this aim, with the goal of achieving a full transformation by 2033.