For LeRon Wilson, community development is personal.
A Houston native who grew up in Freedmen’s Town in Fourth Ward, Wilson has taken the helm as executive director of the Hiram Clarke/Ft. Bend Redevelopment Authority (HCFBRA), becoming the organization’s first executive director and helping move it from a consultant-run operation to a staffed organization.
His mission is straightforward: Learn, listen, and leave the community better than he found it.
“I’ve always wanted to focus on making this world a better place,” Wilson said. “So, it was just inevitable that I was able to get over to the Hiram Clarke/Ft. Bend Redevelopment Authority.”
Rooted in community concerns
Wilson’s Houston roots run deep. After attending Lamar High School, where he was a four-year varsity basketball player, he earned his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech and a graduate degree from Lamar University.
His path into redevelopment was less about chasing a title than discovering a place where his skills could make a difference. When he first joined the HCFBRA, Wilson said, his responsibilities were far more basic. He assembled board packets and delivered them to meetings—a task he admits he initially disliked.
Then he started listening.
“I started hearing those same buzzwords,” said Wilson. “We need grocery stores. We need a better place for our community. We need this. We need that.”
The needs sounded familiar because they were the same community concerns he had heard growing up. That realization changed his approach. Wilson began asking how he could contribute beyond assembling paperwork. He took on administrative responsibilities, learned more about the HCFBRA, and repeatedly asked what else he could do.
Eventually, the work grew into a leadership role.
Organization growth
As executive director, Wilson oversees the HCFBRA’s day-to-day operations while working with its board to establish vision and direction.
“Today, it can be preparing agendas for meetings with community members, preparing for events, and meeting with consultants,” he said. “But inevitably, from procurement to execution to the whole nine yards, it happens right here in this office.”
For now, the organization is a team of two, supported by the HCFBRA board, community members, and selected consultants. The transition is significant. Wilson is not simply assuming leadership of an existing staff structure; he is helping build the organization itself.
“I am the first executive director for the Hiram Clarke/Ft. Bend Redevelopment Authority,” he said. “We originally had consultants. We’re now an actual staffed organization versus a consultant-run organization.”
‘Mamba Mentality’ meets economic development
Wilson credits Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba Mentality” as an influence on his approach to leadership. The philosophy is not about basketball alone. For Wilson, it means committing to lifelong learning.
“I do not believe that I will ever know everything,” he said. “But that’s not going to stop me from striving to understand.”
That means reviewing old projects, examining processes, reading books, attending conferences, and talking with other economic developers about what worked—and what did not. The goal is to bring those lessons back to the communities for which his organization is responsible.
Old soul
As a millennial leader, Wilson brings a younger perspective to economic development, but he rejects the notion that technology should replace human interaction.
“We’ve got to put some respect on the name,” joked Wilson about his millennial status. “Though I’m a millennial, I don’t believe in only sticking with technology.”
His preference is for a balance of research, technology, books, and, most importantly, face-to-face conversations. That listening also helps him navigate the uncertainty that comes with being a relatively young leader.
Wilson openly acknowledges wrestling with the challenge of being the youngest person in most rooms.
“I’ve always struggled with impostor syndrome,” he said.
But experience, mentors, and continued learning have helped him push through those doubts.
“I am in the right place. I am doing the right work,” he tells himself, making sure every decision is guided by the interests of the community and the board that entrusted him with leadership.
Moving from idea to action
Wilson’s vision is already connected to several major redevelopment initiatives. Among them is a planned pedestrian bridge designed to overcome the barrier created by the Union Pacific Railroad. The project would improve walking and biking access between the north and south sides of the freeway, connecting the Fondren and Westbury neighborhoods while linking the Sims Bayou trails to Willow Waterhole.
“I’ve always wanted to focus on making this world a better place. So, it was just inevitable that I was able to get over to the Hiram Clarke/Ft. Bend Redevelopment Authority.”
LeRon Wilson
The HCFBRA also wants to expand beautification efforts throughout the district. Improvements at South Post Oak and Fondren—including hardscape enhancements, flowers, and branding for the Five Corners area—could serve as a model for other intersections.
A broader corridor beautification and branding effort is also targeting major gateways such as South Post Oak, Hillcroft, and Chimney Rock, with potential banners, murals, lighting, public art, and monument signs.
Grants with long-term potential
The authority’s work has attracted outside investment. A $2,500 AARP grant is supporting community “walk audits,” allowing residents to identify problems with walkability and bikeability that could help shape future infrastructure decisions.
The organization also secured a $500,000 U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant through relationships developed with Congressman Al Green’s office and EPA Region 6.
The grant will enable the community to identify properties for environmental assessment, conduct initial and potentially more extensive contamination studies, and develop reuse plans to benefit the community through public or private partnerships.
For Wilson, those efforts represent more than construction, beautification, or grant dollars.
He sees them as seeds.
“I always think of a seed. An oak tree grows from an acorn,” shared Wilson. “I like to see an idea that is just on paper blossom into a road, a sidewalk, something that the community feels value in.”
Leaving it better
The hardest part of the job, Wilson said, is balancing the many voices involved in redevelopment—community residents, board members, elected officials, city departments, legal considerations, and economic development interests. Finding common ground can be overwhelming, but he believes it is necessary.
Ultimately, Wilson measures success by a simple standard: whether his work improves the community.
“I do live by what I believe is a definition of greatness: leaving this world better than what you found it,” added Wilson.
