Team
Creating the greatest value for its partners and investors by drawing on the team's
extensive industry experience and established capital relationships.
Matt Shulman
CEO & Managing Partner | V-Card
Matt Shulman is the CEO and Managing Partner of The Ardent Companies (“Ardent”) and the CEO of each of the General Partner and the Advisor. Prior to forming Ardent, Matt Shulman was a Managing Director with Rialto Capital where he managed an origination platform for equity investments across Rialto’s strategies. In that role, Matt oversaw deployment of capital into deals varying from performing and non-performing loans, equity investments directly in real estate, and recapitalization of existing sponsors. Prior to Rialto, Matt was a founding partner at Fairway Capital Partners – a real estate investment firm founded in 2007. Matt is a member of YPO and Wexner Heritage. He actively serves on the boards of the Atlanta Real Estate Collaborative, Usher 1F Collaborative, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in addition to serving as Chair of The Epstein School board. Matt formerly served on the board of Open Doors Atlanta and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta ELC board. Matt received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona and a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance from New York University. After graduate school, Matt served as an adjunct professor of Real Estate Finance at his Alma Mater NYU.
Todd Terwilliger
Partner | V-Card
Todd Terwilliger is a Partner at The Ardent Companies and the Head of Residential Real Estate. Prior to forming Ardent, Todd was a Managing Director at Rialto Capital where he and his team managed the Southeastern U.S. Real Estate portfolio. In addition to real estate operations, his team was also involved in all underwriting for non-performing loan acquisitions and direct real estate investments across Rialto’s platform. Prior to Rialto, Todd had a strategic partnership with Fairway Capital in a venture that acquired distressed loans from commercial banks secured by real estate throughout the Southeast. Before the venture with Fairway, he was Vice President of Land Acquisition and Development at Pulte Homes Corporation where he managed site selection, contract negotiation, and planning and forecasting for the Pulte and Del Webb branded communities. Todd received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology from the University of Dayton Ohio and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia State University.
Dror Bezalel
CFO & Partner | V-Card
Dror Bezalel is the Chief Financial Officer and Partner of The Ardent Companies, as well as the CFO of each of the General Partner and the Advisor. Prior to forming Ardent, Dror was a principal and COO/CFO at Anthem Capital Partners, a Georgia-based distressed debt real estate fund. His primary responsibilities included asset management, investor relations, and financial oversight and reporting. Prior to Anthem, Dror worked as the COO at Fairway Capital Partners, a New York-based distressed debt real estate firm. While at Fairway Capital Partners, he oversaw the servicing, management, and disposition of a portfolio of non-performing loans and assets, in addition to investor relations and day-to-day operations of the firm. Prior to Fairway Capital Partners, Dror was a senior CMBS underwriter at Morgan Stanley, where he underwrote more than two billion dollars of commercial real estate loans. Dror has been working in commercial real estate for more than 15 years and his experience includes commercial appraisal, commercial leasing, asset management, and disposition. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from The College of Management Academic Studies in Israel and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development and Finance from New York University.
Gregg Goldenberg
Vice Chairman & Partner | V-Card
Gregg Goldenberg is a Partner at The Ardent Companies. Prior to Ardent, Gregg was the former President and CEO of Acadia Homes & Neighborhoods, which was acquired by Taylor Morrison in January of 2016 for $85 million. Gregg has more than 25 years of experience in various leadership roles in the homebuilding and land development business. Acadia began operations in 2010, and by 2013 it was recognized as Atlanta’s 5th fastest growing privately-held company and ranked as the 10th largest homebuilder. Prior to Acadia, Gregg started his own development company that identified, entitled, purchased, and developed residential communities for regional builders and housing giants like Beazer Homes and the Ryland Group. Prior to starting his own venture, Gregg was Senior Vice President of the Southeast Region at Morrison Homes. He oversaw and managed all the land acquisition, homebuilding, and mortgage finance operations in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Sarasota, and Tampa. Gregg and his management team closed over 2,100 homes for $510 million in revenue, and purchased over 4,000 residential lots in 2004. Gregg received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration in Real Estate Finance from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Thomas Olson
Partner | V-Card
Thomas Olson is a Partner at The Ardent Companies. Thomas focuses on debt and equity originations and innovative strategies. Prior to Ardent, Thomas was a Partner and CFO of Acadia Homes & Neighborhoods, a sister company of Ardent, where he directed the company’s financial strategies, corporate policies, risk management, and investments. Thomas has over two decades of real estate experience in leadership roles at notable firms such as Hines, Resource Real Estate Partners, and Warren-Hanks. Thomas also serves on the Board of Directors for two medical technology companies: ViveBio Scientific and Nephrogen Sciences. Thomas is an active contributor to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, specifically the “Carter Samuel Martin Developmental Therapeutics Research Fund”. Thomas is a Minnesota native, and he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Corporate Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Suzie Cooper
Managing Director | V-Card
Suzie Cooper is the Head of Accounting at The Ardent Companies, based in the London office. Prior to joining Ardent in November 2021, Suzie worked for Henley Investments – a boutique private equity firm based in London – and spent over 15 years at Grosvenor Estates in a variety of finance roles focused on treasury and the investment portfolio. Suzie is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and holds a degree in Politics.
Michael DeGance
Managing Director | V-Card
Michael DeGance is a Managing Director at Ardent. Michael is responsible for investor relations, financial reporting, and fundraising. Prior to joining Ardent in November 2012, Michael worked at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Advisors, where he worked on a $10 billion open-end core real estate fund. In his role, he managed a team of associates on the financial and investor reporting for the fund. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Michael worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the assurance and advisory practice. Michael is graduate of the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in both Real Estate and Accounting.
Emily Langsenkamp
Executive Director | V-Card
Emily Langsenkamp is the Chief of Staff at The Ardent Companies. Prior to this role, Emily served as Ardent’s Director of Operations in which her duties included streamlining and improving business processes, spearheading long-term business planning, and analyzing the effectiveness of existing business functions. Before joining Ardent in April 2019, Emily worked in Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management division for seven years. In her most recent role as the Southeast Regional Analyst, she was responsible for driving key strategic and operational initiatives throughout the eight southeastern states. Emily received a Bachelor of Science in Business and Enterprise Management with a concentration in Marketing from Wake Forest University.
Shawnia Silva Da Cruz
Executive Director | V-Card
Shawnia Silva Da Cruz an Executive Director at The Ardent Companies. Prior to joining Ardent in January 2011, Shawnia worked as an Assistant Controller with Acadia Homes & Neighborhoods, a sister company of Ardent. Shawnia was the first employee at The Ardent Companies and has been with the company for nine years. Shawnia has over two decades of accounting experience including construction, job cost, general ledger, and full accounting cycle management.
Emma Grillo
Director | V-Card
Emma Grillo is a Director at The Ardent Companies. Emma is on the Investor Relations team. Prior to joining Ardent in January 2017, Emma worked at Prichard & Jerden in commercial insurance lines. Emma has a Series 7 certification as well as a Property and Casualty Insurance license. Emma is a graduate of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.
Monica Ortego
Director | V-Card
Monica Ortego is a Director at The Ardent Companies on the Investor Relations team. Prior to joining Ardent, Monica worked as VP of Operations at a technology startup and was responsible for all aspects of the business operations including development of processes and leveraging technologies to scale the business including the CRM, project management and expense reporting systems, management of strategic partnerships and client relations. In her role at Stan Johnson Company, a net-lease commercial real estate investment firm, she served as an Investment Analyst where she oversaw the client experience process from brokerage agreement through contract close for one of the company’s top producing teams. She previously worked at CNN where she managed global operations and multi-million dollar operating budgets for the international newsgathering teams. Monica is a graduate of the University of Florida.
Gerry Moschopoulos
Treasurer | V-Card
Gerry is the Treasurer for The Ardent Companies. Gerry is a treasury and banking professional with experience in cash management, corporate credit, equity financing, and corporate finance projects. Before joining Ardent, he was the Treasurer of TERNA ENERGY USA – a renewable energy company – and a Senior Banker at NBG – a commercial bank in Europe – where he managed corporate portfolios across industries, including real estate. Gerry has an MBA from Georgia State University, an M.Sc. in International Banking and Financial Studies from the University of Southampton, UK., and a B.Sc. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and Finance. He is also certified with Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Stephen Ferrell
Fund Controller | V-Card
Stephen Ferrell is the Fund Controller at The Ardent Companies. Prior to joining Ardent in February 2021, Stephen served as the Accounting Manager for The Shopping Center Group overseeing the entire 120+ portfolio of properties while managing a team of 18 accountants. Stephen has over 17 years of Accounting Managerial experience in the real estate accounting field servicing corporate, retail, and multi-family. Prior to The Shopping Center Group, Stephen worked for Jones Lang LaSalle servicing enclosed malls and for Piedmont Office Realty Trust – a publicly-traded REIT serving in the Accounting Manager role. Stephen received a Bachelor of Science of Business Administration in Accounting from The University of Central Florida.
Michele Simmons
Accounts Payable Manager | V-Card
Michele Simmons is an AP Manager of The Ardent Companies. She has almost two decades of experience with accounts payable. Prior to joining Ardent Michele was AP Manager for Portman Holdings. She handled timely payments of corporate, property, and development invoices. Michele also held two separate positions at Avison Young Atlanta Management Services, first as an AR/AP Specialist and then as an Assistant Property Manager where she was responsible for managing over 700,000 square feet of properties. Michele attended The College of Staten Island in New York where she majored in Business Administration and minored in Accounting. Michele Simmons has recently passed a real estate course with American Real Estate University and is currently working on obtaining her Georgia real estate license.
Hanan Musa
Senior Associate | V-Card
Hanan Musa is a Senior Associate at The Ardent Companies. Hanan is on the Investor Relations team. Prior to joining Ardent in August 2020, Hanan had experience in real estate development at Landeavor and Windsor Stevens where she worked with marketing, sales, and development teams on writing and preparing investor letters. Hanan received her Bachelor of Science from J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University in Real Estate with a minor in Marketing and a Certificate in Professional Sales.
William Charles
Associate | V-Card
William Charles is an Associate at The Ardent Companies. Before joining Ardent he was at Trimont Real Estate Advisors as a loan servicing analyst in credit and asset management. He graduated from High Point University with a Finance degree and a Marketing minor in 2021, and previously interned at Ardent for two summers during college.