Our Leadership

Mario Garcia, Jr. was born and raised in Tampa, FL, and he continues to maintain his residence and operate his businesses in Hillsborough County. In 2004, Mr. Garcia, as CEO and Managing Partner, formed Validus Group Partners Ltd. (“Validus Group”), an investment firm based in Tampa, Florida which develops, owns and manages real estate and real estate related businesses. Validus Group and its affiliates employ over 1,200 people and, since inception, have formed, acquired, or managed companies with assets in excess of $4.5 billion, including over $13.6 billion in transactions. In 2014, Mr. Garcia founded Validus Group Properties, an affiliate of Validus Group, which owns and manages over 620,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial real estate throughout the Southeast United States. Mr. Garcia is also Chairman & Founder of EMSI, a national medical device company, which he helped establish as a start-up business in 1995. Presently, EMSI services over 50,000 patients and has approximately 275 employees.

Mr. Garcia served as the founding Chairman of GulfShore Bank, a Tampa Bay area community bank focused on serving small to medium sized companies that he helped start in 2007. He served as a board member at both the Bank and the Bank's holding company from 2007 until April 2017, when he successfully helped negotiate the company's sale to publicly traded Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ: SBCF).

Mr. Garcia was a Founder of Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT, Inc. (“CVMCR”) and Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II, Inc. (“CVMCR II"), serving on the Board of Directors for CVMCR. Additionally, he served as a member of the Investment Management Committees of Carter Validus Advisors, LLC and Carter Validus Advisors II, LLC. While on the Board of Directors, Mr. Garcia assisted with the sale of CVMCR’s entire data center portfolio, resulting in approximately $1.3 billion in net proceeds. He then successfully helped negotiate the merger of CVMCR with CVMCR II in October 2019, creating an entity valued at approximately $3.2 billion. In September 2020, Mr. Garcia successfully helped negotiate the sale, from Carter Validus Advisors II, LLC, and its various affiliates, to CVMCR II, of all the assets necessary to operate and internalize all of CVMCR II’s external management functions (the “Internalization Transaction”).

Mr. Garcia was a Founder and served on the Board of Managers of Validus/Strategic Capital, LLC, a broker / dealer specializing in alternative investment solutions and advisory services. Additionally, Mr. Garcia was a Founder of Strategic Capital Fund Management, LLC (“StratCap”), the Sponsor of Strategic Data Center Fund, LLC (“Strategic Data Center”), and Strategic Wireless Infrastructure Fund, LLC (“Strategic Wireless”). Strategic Data Center focuses on acquiring, developing, and managing data center real estate assets, while Strategic Wireless focuses on acquiring, building, and managing wireless telecom infrastructure assets.

In October 2021, Mr. Garcia, through StratCap, assisted with the founding of Pegasus Digital Mobility Acquisition Corp (“Pegasus”), a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a business combination with one or more businesses. In May 2023, Pegasus entered into a business combination agreement. Pegasus was founded with an initial IPO raising $230,000,000 and in May 2024, successfully closed a business combination agreement with SCHMID Group resulting in the public listing of SCHMID (NASDAQ: SCHMID). Ultimately, in April 2024, Mr. Garcia successfully helped negotiate the sale of StratCap to Australian Stock Exchange alternative asset manager HMC Capital Limited (ASX: HMC), which successfully closed the transaction in September 2024.

In 2013, Mr. Garcia was a Founding Partner of Validus Senior Living which owned operated and third-party managed Senior Living communities throughout the Southeast United States, specializing in independent, assisted living and memory care services. In May 2024, Validus Senior Living Management, which oversaw the operating and management services of the Senior Living communities, merged with Distinctive Living. Validus Senior Living retained, and continues to own, 12 Senior Living communities comprised of 1,550 units and 1,200 beds.

Mr. Garcia is active in the Tampa Bay community. He serves on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Foundation Board. Mr. Garcia and his businesses support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, Metropolitan Ministries, Seal Legacy Foundation, and a variety of other charitable foundations.

Yorlan Alfonso was born in Cuba, but has been in Tampa, Florida for over 30 years. Yorlan received his Bachelors of Science in Finance from the University of South Florida and his Masters of Business Administration from St. Leo University. Yorlan has been with Validus Group since it's inception in 2004 and has an extensive financial background prior to his time with Validus.

Yorlan is responsible for the development, maintenance, and implementation of the company's operations and procedures. Yorlan provides superior leadership and management in the company's day-to-day operations including hiring professional and technical staff, implementing budget reductions, developing and executing company business plans, and installing effective management information systems.