NOLA MusiCon / October 28-30
New Orleans
Tara Hernandez
Tara serves as President of JCH Properties+, a real estate investment, consulting and development company that specializes in delivering urban lifestyle experiences through the conversion of underutilized real estate into “cool”, creative spaces. The company develops multi-family, commercial mixed-use, and special-use projects. Tara has been directly responsible for and/or participated in the development of residential, mixed-use, mixed-income, and commercial development projects throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. The firm is a part of a team currently developing a new, 40+ acre, mixed-use neighborhood on the New Orleans riverfront known as the River District. She also leads her Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Company, Legacy Real Estate Partners, as Managing Broker.
Tara is also actively involved in the technology investment community, as an investor and Fund Manager of Reform Ventures, LLC, a member of First Round Capital’s Angel Track 6 cohort, a member of NOLAAN (New Orleans LA Angel Network), and board member of the Idea Village, a New Orleans technology accelerator program. She was named as one of “100 rising-star VC’s in 2020, who represent the future of venture capital” by Business Insider.
As a strong advocate for artists and the music business community, Tara spearheaded a regional initiative, NOME-New Orleans Music Economy, to attract the business side of the music industry to New Orleans, while Chair of Greater New Orleans, Inc, and remains a member of the Steering Committee.
Tara is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, with a Master of Science Degree in Real Estate Development and a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans with a degree in Finance. She is a Louisiana Real Estate Broker, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and in leadership positions on several not-for profit boards, including the Dean’s Advisory Board Member of the Clinton School of Public Service, Board Member of the Idea Village, a Board member of WWOZ Radio Station, and Board Member of Ochsner’s Health Foundation.
Past Board Service and Awards include: Immediate Past President of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation, Commissioner of the PORT of New Orleans and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, Past Chair Emeritus of Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO,Inc), Former Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, and Past Chair of the 2016 Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) National Hines Competition Jury. She received the 2018 Torchbearer Award for Economic Development from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW), recognition as a 2017 and 2023 New Orleans City Business’ Women of the Year, a 2017 Business Hall of Fame Laureate by Junior Achievement, and a 2017 Women of Color Honoree by 100 National Black Men of Metro New Orleans.