José A. Hernandez- Solaun is a relatively young man, who has gained a reputation for being a wonderful mentor to many and a leader who can effect pivotal change. His passion for non-profit work, love of family and his considerable business acumen have earned him many accolades over the years, enough for someone twice his age.
Born and raised in Miami, Jose attended Christopher Columbus High School and later Florida International University where he got his first taste of volunteerism. While selling raffle tickets in parochial school was a start, Jose went on to become a founding member of Pi Kappa Alpha’s chapter at FIU where his chapter members were required to complete numerous service hours in a short period to get the organization’s charter. That volunteer service developed his passion for charitable work. While he started with handson volunteer efforts, over the years he began using his leadership skill sets to serve in more strategic ways on boards of directors.
With a BA from FIU in Entrepreneurship, Marketing and International Business, he went on to earn an MBA in 2005 at the University of Miami followed by an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT in 2009. Jose is president of The Easton Group, a real estate brokerage, management, and development firm. Jose’s natural leadership makes him a standout on most any board of directors. He has served multiple years on several prestigious boards chair including the American Diabetes Association (Miami Dade, Monroe), and MIT Enterprise Forum of South Florida. In addition, he also serves as a National Committee member of the American Diabetes Association-Community and Volunteer Development.
As a social entrepreneur, Jose created his own Hernandez-Solaun Foundation and co-founded LEADS305, an Open Source Leadership Platform, South Florida’s next leadership base. As a mentor and teacher, for the past four years Jose has been an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Miami. He judges the Business Plan Competition, lectures students on entrepreneurship and is an Elevator Pitch judge at the Launchpad.
Before joining the Easton Group, Jose was president and founder of Mango Consulting Group where he formed Mango Green, an initiative helping the community raise eco-friendly awareness and adopting Brickell Avenue where the organization routinely gathers to clean the area.
A list of awards all of which are too numerous to mention include being recognized as the Thurgood Marshall- Distinguished Young Leader in May 2013; UM’s Iron Arrow Honor Society in March 2013; Father of the Year for the American Diabetes Association in May 2014, and the 40 under 40 for South Florida Business Journal in 2012.
Unlike so many executive whose hobbies include recreational activities, Jose loves spending time around people he loves and respects, so, it is not surprising his free time is devoted to non-profit work and to his amazing family — wife Aubrey, and son, Joey, 5, and daughter, Victoria, 3.
