Gene Collins was born and raised in Odessa, Texas. He attended Abilene Christian University, where he was a campus and community civil rights organizer. He completed his college education at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Collins is now a local businessman and minister in Odessa, Texas. He has been president of the Odessa NAACP for over 15 years, and co-chair for environmental justice for the statewide NAACP. He helped lead several efforts toward environmental justice in and outside Odessa.

Nick Hernandez was born and raised in Odessa, Texas. He attended Milam Elementary, Dunbar Junior High, and Ector High School before obtaining his GED at Southwest State University in San Marcos, Texas while working within Job Core; Hernandez was only fourteen when he obtained his GED. As a teenager, he took an interest in cars, which eventually led him to study car body work, which he took and taught others. Influenced by Raul Guerrero, originally from Pecos and educated at the University of Texas at El Paso, Hernandez helped start the Brown Berets chapter of Odessa, Texas. Hernandez helped lead the community protests against police brutality regarding the Larry Lozano beating and killing by the Odessa Police Department. Hernandez is now in the Hall of Fame of Lowrider Magazine and is part of Taste of Latin Car Club.