Team

Prior to founding Ella Valley, David was a Managing Director, Co-Head of Asset Management, and General Counsel for Marathon Real Estate, the global real estate equity and debt platforms for Marathon Asset Management. At Marathon, David managed a real estate portfolio that included parking garages, residential units, and office buildings and oversaw ground-up development, conversion of residential rental units to condominiums, renovation and repositioning of office buildings, as well as many other projects around the continental U.S. and abroad. He joined Marathon in 2005 from Proskauer, where he was an attorney in the firm's real estate department for 12 years representing institutional lenders, developers, equity sponsors, and special servicers in connection with acquisitions, sales, financings, workouts, debt and equity structuring, restructurings, and dispositions. David holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from New York Law School.

Fostin also worked in real estate private equity in Europe for nine years, where he worked on acquisitions across Europe and the U.S.. His specialties include real estate valuation, financial modeling, acquisition underwriting, real estate asset management, and investment reporting. Fostin holds a B.A. in Economics and Slavic Languages with honors from the University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management at Yale University.

Over the course of his career, Burt secured over $600 million in equity and debt financing from partners like J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Silverpeak Real Estate Partners, Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds, Marathon Asset Management, Urdang, and Petra Capital. Burt’s experience also includes the acquisition and development of numerous residential communities in Central and Western North Dakota; assisting in the launch of boutique capital markets group, ABS Altman Warwick; and, most recently, working as a senior executive with a boutique ground-up residential development company. Burt holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Maryland.

Alan brings extensive real estate experience, having sourced, capitalized, and managed large-scale projects across multiple markets, with prior experience in acquisitions, development, and asset management of large residential portfolios. Alan holds a B.A. in Finance with Honors from The George Washington University.

Prior to founding JACRAX, Cara spent nine years at the Open Society Foundations, where she served as an Operations Officer and strategic thought partner to senior leadership. She led initiatives across the global network aimed at strengthening both individual and programmatic performance and designed bespoke trainings for several hundred staff members on topics including portfolio development, grantee relations, and post-grant learning and evaluation. Outside of philanthropy, Cara is an active theater producer and currently serves as Chair of the Associate Board at Classic Stage Company. She holds dual degrees in Theatre Performance and English from the University of Michigan.

Earlier in his career, Jeff was a senior cost analyst and assistant controller at Forest City Ratner Companies, where he supported the development of more than $1 billion in real estate across the New York metro area. He also held roles at Zeckendorf Co., Inc. and Dime Savings Bank. Jeff holds a B.S. in Finance and Business Administration with a minor in Economics from Long Island University/C.W. Post and a diploma from the NYU Real Estate Institute.

In 1987, Brian joined Forest City Ratner Companies, a division of Forest City Enterprises, as Controller. During his tenure, he played a key role in major projects including the $1 billion MetroTech Center development in downtown Brooklyn and ultimately served as Chief Financial Officer. In 1995, he left Forest City to launch his own CPA firm, which he operated until 2022 when he sold the firm and joined Ella Valley. Brian holds a B.S. in Accounting from St. John’s University.