Tyrone Rachal (Moderator)

President, Urban Key Capital Partners

Mr. Rachal is President of Urban Key Capital Partners which is a mission-driven, specialty finance advisory services platform with expertise in providing a range of financial service to highly-impactful real estate development projects in distressed communities.  Mr. Rachal is also a Principal of Red Rock Global and President of Red Rock Global Capital Partners where he has specific responsibility for directing all financial advisory services and private placement activity.

Prior to forming Urban Key Capital Partners and re-joining Red Rock Global, Mr. Rachal was Managing Director of Redevelopment at Invest Atlanta.  He had specific responsibility for managing, marketing and overseeing the City of Atlanta’s tax allocation district program and served as director for commercial, retail and mixed-use projects applying for tax increment finance funding.  Mr. Rachal also created and had the responsibility of directing Invest Atlanta’s controlling entity interest as President of Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. (AEMI), a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program Certified Community Development Entity (CDE) and multi-round allocatee (over $200 million).  While President of AEMI, Mr. Rachal concentrated on making mezzanine loan investments in distressed communities that exhibited outsized community impacts.

Mr. Rachal is a graduate of Dartmouth College with degrees in Economics and Government, as well as the University of Chicago Law School and Booth School of Business, where he received his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees, respectively.  Mr. Rachal has served as a past Chair of the Public-Private Partnership Council of the Urban Land Institute and was a participant in the Atlanta District Council’s Inaugural Center for Regional Leadership Development.

Mason Ailstock

Senior Principal, HR&A Advisors

Mason Ailstock is a recognized leader in innovation districts and anchor-driven developments. With nearly 20 years’ experience working with higher-education institutions, governments and industry, Mason has a track record of converging real estate, academia and business to advance communities of innovation. Through the Knowledge Economy Practice at HR&A Advisors, Mason has the privilege of engaging with global partners to advance their mission.

Prior to joining HR&A, Mason served as an executive with The University Financing Foundation, a private foundation serving educational organizations. As a university practitioner, Mason served as the Chief Operating Officer of Research Triangle Park the largest research park in North America. Mason is the Past President of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), Co-Chairman of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) University Development & Innovation Council, a member of the ULI Center for Leadership, and the Global Eisenhower Fellowships.

Ryan Hagerty

Senior Vice President, SB Friedman Development Advisors

Ryan Hagerty has extensive experience in tax credit finance and community and economic development strategy. Since joining SB Friedman in 2012, Ryan has been deeply involved in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)-related assignments where he advises clients on securing, structuring, and closing on complex financing to support impactful projects. These clients include NMTC programs for City of Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA, along with a range of nonprofit service providers and high-impact job creators. To date, he has successfully closed over $1 billion of NMTC financings to support over 65 projects nationwide and currently manages a portfolio of over $650 million of closed deals. 

Ryan holds a Master of City and Regional Planning, with concentrations in land and economic development, from Georgia Tech, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in finance, from Boston University.

Philip Hart

Founder and Managing Partner, BioMed Development Group, LLC

Philip Hart is a veteran author, educator, urban planner and developer.   He is founder and managing partner of BioMed Development Group, LLC. Dr. Hart is a former professor of sociology and director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is co-developer of Boston’s CrossTown Industrial Park and BioSquare the city’s premiere biotech business park. He was project manager for the 5,000-seat West Angeles Cathedral in South Los Angeles. He was a construction manager for the $20 billion LAUSD new school construction and modernization program. He is a development consultant for the Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine Health Professions Education Building in Watts-Willowbrook. He served on the LA County Metro Expo Line Construction Authority Urban Design Committee. Dr. Hart was Executive Director of ULI LA from 2006 to 2008 and in 2008 was named ULI’s first Managing Director for Diversity and Inclusion Worldwide. In 2010 he was named Diversity Executive of the Year by Commercial Property Executive.