Prakash I. Patel
CEO

Since 2004, Prakash Patel has served as a senior advisor and partner within the Diplomat Companies, working directly with Chairman, Mike Patel and CEO, R.C. Patel. His responsibilities include but are not limited to the acquisition and sale of business entities, development and disposal of commercial real estate opportunities, and planning of overall corporate strategy.  As such, he is especially experienced in conducting due diligence activities, managing start-up businesses, maximizing profits, and enhancing cash flow, notably through cost-control procedures and debt re-structuring. Recently, he directed the development, funding, and construction management of two major buildings in downtown Atlanta which resulted in significantly increasing the value of these real estate assets as well as re-positioning them for higher prestige and prominence in the community. In addition, Prakash has developed a number of retail centers and bank buildings through his own company, VIP Development, LLC including the Headquarters building for Haven Trust Bank in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Prior to joining Diplomat, Prakash has more than 20 years of international experience in the multi-billion dollar global telecommunications industry.  For example, he served for four years as chairman and CEO of Rann Globalnet in Prague.  As vice president and board member of GT-Vcom, he structured numerous major and innovative telecommunications joint venture companies in Hong Kong and China. As director of sales for Unisource Carrier Services based in Switzerland, he had responsibility for negotiating international traffic handling agreements and setting up sales offices throughout the world. In addition, Prakash has held numerous positions with British Telecommunications in London, including as head of the UK delegation for international standards negotiations in the United States and Europe.  He’s also been a noted independent consultant for business development in the telecommunications industry.

Prakash earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at The City University in London and his M.B.A. from Warwick Business School.  A resident of the Midtown area in Atlanta, Prakash is active in the city’s Asian American community.

Adel Elmankabady, ALC, RECS, CSP
Principal & Chief Marketing Officer

Adel Elmankabady is the Vice President and Managing Partner of Vici Real Estate. Mr. Elmankabady has more than twenty years of real estate experience with specific expertise in sales and marketing throughout the United States and Middle East. His vast experience has enabled him to successfully obtain the following special designations; Real Estate Investment Specialist, Certified REO Specialist, Real Estate Auctions Specialist, and Institute for Real Estate Policy Resident.

Previously, Mr. Elmankabady was a Commercial Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker and Prudential Georgia. Other experience includes being a Managing Partner of commercial real estate with Solid Source Realty and Crye-Leike Realty. He was also a Managing Partner with Southeastern Homes and Developments that was located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mr. Elmankabady is an active member of the Georgia Commercial Board of Realtors where he currently resides on three executive committees. Specifically, in 2003, he founded the Commercial Real Estate Forum, which invites likeminded firms to share available opportunities within the commercial real estate market. In his spare time, Mr. Elmankabady teaches several commercial real estate investment classes throughout the state of Georgia. He was born in Cairo, Egypt and graduated from the University of Cairo.

Rick Skelton
Principal

Mr. Skelton is the founding member and President of Skelton Development. Skelton Development is located in Atlanta, Georgia and focuses on the creation and adaptive re-use of environmentally responsible mixed-use communities, resorts, and historic properties throughout the United States. The nationally acclaimed firm has received several awards for achievement in historic-sensitive renovation, quality urban renewal and preservation, and innovative sales and marketing strategies.

With over 20 years of real estate development experience, Mr. Skelton has been responsible for several notable projects, including the proposed Alabama Motorsports Park that sits on more than 4,000-acres and is a joint venture with the NASCAR notable Dale Earnhardt Jr. In addition, a 1,000-acre mixed-use Gulf Coast community planned by the famed Andres Duany. Other notable projects include Deer Lofts, The Indies, Long Leaf, William Oliver Building, 90 Fairlie, Laurel Ledge, Stonewall Battery, GE Lofts, and 1000 Brickell Avenue.

Mr. Skelton has consistently been named “one of the most influential residential and commercial real estate individuals in Atlanta” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In 2000, he was named runner-up as the Atlanta Business Person of the Year by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. To compliment his community development activities, he maintains a very active involvement in the business and civic community at large.

Beyond real estate development, Mr. Skelton is the founding member and principal of Hyper Sport/Dempsey Racing. The team participates in the Grand- Am Cup and Rolex Series and his driving partner is the actor Patrick Dempsey. Mr. Skelton participates in the management of the business but truly enjoys the competition of driving to victory lane. Mr. Skelton is a North Georgia native and attended the University of Georgia.

Charles H. Kuck
Legal Counsel

Mr. Kuck is the Managing Partner of Kuck Casablanca LLC-The Immigration Law Firm, and oversees its nationwide immigration practice. His practice focuses on U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law and international migration matters. Mr.Kuck assists employers and employees with business and professional visas, labor certifications, immigrant visas, consular representation, and citizenship matters. Mr. Kuck also maintains an active Federal Court practice focusing on immigration issues. He has represented asylum seekers in more than 400 trials before the Immigration Courts. Mr. Kuck also advises employers on compliance procedures in verifying the work eligibility of all new employees as required under the I-9 employer sanctions provisions of the Federal Law and is a leader in training and compliance with programs on the E-Verify and IMAGE. His clients include technology firms, manufacturers, multinational corporations, individual investors and entrepreneurs, as well as families, individual immigrants and asylum seekers.

Mr. Kuck is the National President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). He has served on the National Executive Committee of AILA for five years. Previously, Mr. Kuck served on the Board of Governors of AILA for six years. Three of those years he was one of 21 elected members of the National Board of Governors, two of those years he spent as Chair of the Atlanta Chapter, and he served for one year as the National Chair of the Young Lawyers Division. He previously served as Chair of AILAs USCIS Headquarters Liaison Committee and Chair of AILAs Consumer Protection Committee, and has served on various other National Liaison Committees for AILA. Additionally, Mr. Kuck is also the Editor-in-Chief of The AILA Litigation Toolbox, a hands-on approach to litigating immigration issues.

Mr. Kuck is a Founding Fellow of the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL). Mr Kuck serves on the International Board for the J. Rueben Clark Law Society, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Georgia Asylum Immigration Network (GAIN). Mr. Kuck also served for seven years on the Board of Directors of the Latin American Association. Since 1999, he has taught both the Introductory and Advanced Immigration Law Seminars at the University of Georgias School of Law as an Adjunct Professor of Law. Mr. Kuck received his B.A. degree from Brigham Young University in 1986. He earned his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Arizona State University Law School in 1989. He is admitted to practice law in Georgia, Washington, D.C., and Arizona.

C. Ryan Conway
Principal

Mr. Conway is the co-founder and Managing Partner of TerraStone Group. TerraStone Group is a private real estate company focused on the investment and development of assets throughout the Southeastern United States. While at TerraStone Group, Mr. Conway has directed transactions valued at more than $150 million. His transaction experience includes equity and debt financings for asset acquisitions, asset management, financial analysis, and full-service development planning and management.

Prior to forming TerraStone Group, he worked for Morgan Stanley in the Global Wealth Management Group where he was responsible for providing highly customized financial advice, investment solutions and brokerage services to individuals, families, corporations, and foundations with significant investable assets. Areas of global investment expertise included equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. During his Morgan Stanley tenure, he successfully raised, managed, and invested assets valued at more than $125 million.

Mr. Conway received a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Furman University. He was a four-year letter winner and an academic All-Conference selection as a member of the nationally ranked Division I-A men’s soccer team. He led his team to multiple top 5 national rankings and two NCAA tournament quarterfinal appearances. Mr. Conway currently serves on the Advisory Board of the start-up company Ecoshel and has successfully achieved securities licensing by passing the FINRA Series 7 and Series 66.