The relationship between James Dondero and Dallas city stretches back to 1994 when he, together with his Highland Capital Management co-founder Mike Okada, decided to move their business here. The entrepreneur quickly fell in love with the city and quickly set up deep connections with its locals and the business community.
His fondness of Dallas is evidenced by the fact that even when his company scaled operations and conquered international markets, he maintained its headquarters in the city. He also concentrates most of his philanthropic acts to uplifting its inhabitants. These charitable acts have seen him crowned Dallas hero time and again and include:
Conservation of the Dallas Zoo
In 2001, the last hippo in the Dallas Zoo conservancy died, and along with it, the glory of Dallas’ biggest recreational facility. The zoo management, therefore, embarked a drive from well-wishers to help them restore the facility to its former glory. After years of unsuccessful solicitations from both the government and the private sector, James stepped in with $1 million donation.
This helped the management build a permanent hippo hut for special education and events. It also ensured that they realize the dream of setting up a hippo outpost that brought life back to the recreational facility and continues to draw in crowds of Dallas residents.
Supporting the Family Place
The Family Place, one of the largest domestic violence shelters in Texas, recently held a drive aimed at raising funds to facilitate the opening up of a counseling center in central Dallas. James Dondero and his Highland Capital Management firm would respond to an invite by the institution with a $1 million donation that helped The Family Place reach its fundraising target way ahead of schedule. James would add by treating the residents under the Family Place’s shelter to a special mother’s day event.
Founding benefactors of the Bush centers
In 2012, James and his highland capital hedge fund donated $5 million to help establish the George W. Bush centers. He would follow this up with an additional $10 million that guarantees their permanence. According to the entrepreneur, these funds go a long way in helping this non-partisan policy organization attracts numerous business and political thought leaders to give lectures at the centers throughout the year. According to Dondero, these lecture programs play a key role in championing national dialogue with regards to policy issues.
Rallying supporters behind Capital For Kids
Dondero’s passion for uplifting the community doesn’t just involve championing policy discussions. He understands the importance of nurturing future generations in the best way possible. Dondero has, therefore, positioned both himself and his company as natural partners for the Capital For Kids organization that takes care of at-risk children in Dallas. He supports and rallies other people’s support to the organization that presently provides quality education and other amenities to children from low-income families.
More about James Dondero
James chairs one of the most successful alternative investment companies in the world making him one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs in the country and beyond. His run in the finance industry started at the JP Morgan’s trainee program before picking up the pace during his time at American Express where he served as a bond analyst and the eventual decision to form Highland capital management. The hedge fund can, however, attribute most of its success to the friendly business policies and a welcoming Texas administration that has played host to his firm since 1996.
This welcoming gesture of the city and its residents continually inspires James to push his company’s limits further so that it can continually create help redress the challenges bedeviling its inhabitants at the moment while continually laying a solid foundation for a better future. His actions have received statewide commendations with most Dallas residents hailing him as one of the most benevolent philanthropist of their time.
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