Florida’s Latino Business Leaders
By Jon O’Neil
B
eing an Army paratrooper and jumping out
of planes every day is a hard job to top. But
Tampa Attorney Danny Alvarez has managed
to do it, even though he’s now behind a desk
instead of underneath a parachute. The leap
was not a hard one once he found the right
motivation: helping immigrants find their way
to a better life.
“Ever since I was in the Army, I always searched
for a sense of purpose like I had when I wore
the uniform,” said Alvarez, a former Infantry
Captain and founder of the Alvarez Legal
Group. “For years, being an attorney never
satisfied that need until the first time I held
someone’s hand as they cried begging me to
help them escape the horrors of their country.
You want motivation? Imagine if you don’t do
your job right and someone who depends on
you is sent back to be persecuted, imprisoned
or worse, harmed or killed. We can’t fail at what
we do here.”
But it’s not like the 40-year-old Alvarez has
been sitting around waiting for a greater purpose to magically find him. A look at his social
media accounts or talking with his long-time
friends reveals quite a different story. Alvarez
has been a man on mission since he was young,
seemingly bent on fixing the world by himself,
said Jeff Kosarich, who is one of Alvarez’ oldest
friends.
“I swear there are three of him and I honestly
do not know when he finds the time to actually
work to earn a living,” said Kosarich. “Between
the non-profits he leads, teaching at the university level, the volunteer work he participates in
and the boards he has been appointed to, I just
do not know how he does it.”
In 2010, Alvarez he opened his firm in West
Tampa, a historically Latin community, to
be closer to his core client base of Spanish
speakers. It surprises many people that he has
only been in the area since 2003 because of his
record of impacting the community and his
visibility within it.
Since opening his doors, Alvarez helped found
an Autism non-profit, is president of the Sheriff ’s Hispanic Advisory Council, was appointed
to the Hillsborough County Children’s Service’s
20
Latin Times Magazine
Advisory Board and to the County Charter
Review Board.
in driving this organization and it’s mission to
the next level.”
In 2012, the Alvarez Legal Group was named
the Small Business of the Year by the precursor
to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay. Coincidentally, Alvarez was recently
elected a director of the Hispanic Chamber’s
Board. This past year, Gov. Rick Scott called
on him to lead Hispanic outreach efforts in the
area for his successful re-election campaign and
presidential hopefuls are already courting.
Alvarez was born in Miami but raised in Houston, Texas, until he was 12. Upon returning to
Florida in 1986, he said it was hard to balance
the life he lived as a Texan with the Cuban
culture he became immersed in.
For Alvarez, going in 50 directions at once
seems to work. In fact, he thrives on it.
“It is hard to say no when you think you can
make a difference. It’s not about racking up
titles to boost a resume though. Anyone can
do that,” he said. “It is about making an impact
and helping to make the lives of those around
you better. If you do not accomplish that at least
once a day, you have to really ask yourself what
are you doing here?”
But his Cuban roots helped define him, and
were an integral part for the foundation of his
deep love for the United States and all it offers.
The emergence of other young Cubans who
wanted to make a difference also helped form
the basis for his future mission - and created
some interesting history.
In the late 1990’s, Alvarez’s grandfather, Raul
Garcia, took a liking to a struggling young
Hispanic politician in Miami. Garcia gathered
supporters, drove people to vote and helped
open doors for the young upstart simply because he saw a vision of freedom in the Cuban
American. That young man was Marco Rubio.
While Alvarez’ legal practice continues to
concentrate on personal injury, bankruptcy
and business law, he says being the son of
immigrants pushed him to help those who have
come to America looking for the same opportunity his family did.
These days, Alvarez is affectionately known
among his many friends and admirers as a
Cuban cowboy of sorts because he combines
Hispanic passion and energy with the tried and
true American Cowboy attributes of freedom,
independence, drive and toughness.
So, in addition to his private practice, he’s
joined forces with Javier Torres, a local Hispanic community leader and Venezuelan attorney,
to make access to the immigration process
affordable and available to all no, matter their
economic background.
He scorns the lawyer stereotypes, exchanging
fancy suits and luxury cars for his signature
Wrangler jeans and his 200,000 plus mile diesel
4x4. On any given day, you can probably find
him at one of West Tampa’s coffee shops instead
of a higher end Del Frisco’s or Malio’s Steak
House.
Together, they run The Migrants Foundation,
a 50 X