Kamal Jafarnia has served as an independent member of our board of directors since October 2022.
Additionally, Mr. Jafarnia served as an independent member of the board of directors of Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc. from June 2019 to October 2022. Mr. Jafarnia currently serves as General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Secretary of Opto Investments, Inc. (formerly named Lonsdale Digital Management, Inc.). Previously, Mr. Jafarnia served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Artivest Holdings, Inc., which position he held from October 2018 until February 2021, and as Chief Compliance Officer of Altegris Advisors LLC, which was the advisor to the Altegris KKR Commitments Fund. Prior to Artivest, Mr. Jafarnia served as Managing Director for Legal and Business Development at Provasi Capital Partners LP. Prior to that, from October 2014 to December 2017, he served as Senior Vice President of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC), as well as Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer of Carey Credit Advisors, Inc. and as Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel of Carey Financial, LLC. Prior to joining W. P. Carey Inc., Mr. Jafarnia served as Counsel to two American Lawyer Global 100 law firms in New York. From March 2014 to October 2014, Mr. Jafarnia served as Counsel in the REIT practice group at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP. From August 2012 to March 2014, Mr. Jafarnia served as Counsel in the Financial Services & Products Group and was a member of the REIT practice group of Alston & Bird, LLP. Between 2006 and 2012, Mr. Jafarnia served as a senior executive, in-house counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer for several alternative investment program sponsors, including, among others, American Realty Capital, a real estate investment program sponsor, and its affiliated broker-dealer, Realty Capital Securities, LLC. In addition, Mr. Jafarnia has served as a non-executive independent member of the board of directors of Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) since January 2013. Mr. Jafarnia also has served as an independent Trustee on the Board of Trustees of Bluerock Total Income + Real Estate Fund since 2021, and as an independent Trustee on the Board of Trustees of Bluerock High Income Institutional Credit Fund since 2022. Mr. Jafarnia received an LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation in 2011 from Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. degree in 1992 from Temple University, and a B.A. degree in economics and government in 1988 from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Jafarnia’s legal background and public company experience, as well as the additional experience described above, led the nominating and corporate governance committee to conclude Mr. Jafarnia should continue to serve as a member of our board of directors.