About

Committed to the public service of Puerto Rico as well as its reconstruction, especially after the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and María, attorney Joel Hernández Alvarado has served as Deputy Director for the Contracts Administration Area of the Legal Division of the CDBG-DR/MIT Program at the Puerto Rico Department of Housing since 2019. 

The Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program is responsible to ensure decent affordable housing opportunities, provision of services and assistance to the most vulnerable in the communities, in addition to the expansion and conservation of jobs in the island. These funds have been awarded for hurricane-specific recovery. Whereas the Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program is meant to carry out strategic and high-impact activities to mitigate disaster risks and reduce future losses. With the money awarded to this program it´s possible to fund projects of a varying nature to serve Puerto Rico´s most important mitigation needs, regardless of tie-back to a specific disaster.  

In this position, attorney Hernández Alvarado leads a team of 17 professionals committed to completing every aspect of the government contracting process, making sure that every contract is correctly executed. The total amount of obligated funds through these agreements, until early October, amounts to more than 11 billion dollars.  Attorney Hernández Alvarado’s work ethic, professionalism and perseverance has gained him the respect and trust of the people around him.  

Between 2017 and 2019 Attorney Hernández Alvarado acted as Chief Legal Officer of the Puerto Rico Department of Housing. During this time and as part of his duties he represented the Puerto Rico Department of Housing in public hearings before the Senate and the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Among his responsibilities were advising the Secretary of the Department of Housing in the formulation and execution of the public policy that would govern the area of work, the management staff of the Department and representatives of public and private organisations regarding the mission and objectives of the different activities and services provided by the agency. 

From 2012 to 2017 he was in the private practice, litigation being his specialty. During this time Attorney Hernández Alvarado focused on both civil and criminal law cases. He’s also experienced in administrative law, torts and mediation processes.  

He is also a university professor for Business Administration courses. As part of his commitment to Puerto Rico, he founded Proyecto Buen Juicio, its main objective is to explain to middle and high school students the legal consequences of negative actions.  

Attorney Hernández Alvarado has a Bachelor´s Degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Puerto Rico, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and a Juris Doctor from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.