Our Team

Claudia Betancourt is Managing Director of Investor Relations at Civitas Capital Group and is responsible for building the market for Civitas’ alternative investment products among high net worth individuals, family offices, and institutions around the world and coordinating within the Company to develop relevant products and services to meet the demands of these clients.

Claudia Betancourt has thirteen years of global experience in private equity, investment banking and business development.  Previously, Claudia was Managing Director at Commerce Street Capital (CSC), a provider of capital to middle-market companies and alternative investment opportunities for accredited investors.

Prior to joining CSC, Claudia worked as a Managing Director of a boutique private equity firm and was in charge of the international portfolio and operations in South America. She was responsible for origination, negotiation, and transaction execution of companies in real estate, technology and mining. She also served as Sr. Vice President of Development at Best Associates, a private equity and venture capital looking to acquire higher education institutions in Latin America.

Claudia began her career in private equity in 2004 when she joined Harwood International, a luxury commercial and residential development company in Dallas. As a Vice President of Equity Investments she was responsible for coordinating a $500 million capital raise program for domestic and foreign portfolios.

Claudia received her B.S. in Economics from Universidad Catolica Boliviana, her M.B.A. from The University of Oklahoma in 2002 and a Masters of Science in Petroleum Economics and Management from the Institute Francaise du Petrole in 2003.

Eric Celeste is the Director of Marketing & Communications for Civitas, leading all external and internal communications efforts for the firm. He ensures that the firm’s communication efforts align with its brand as a different kind of alternative asset management firm, one focused on niche, differentiated investment strategies in real estate, lodging, and alternative credit.

Mr. Celeste has been an editor, writer, and communications professional in Dallas for 29 years. He has worked at D Magazine, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Observer, and the in-flight magazines for American and Southwest Airlines.

For five years prior to joining Civitas, he was the education editor and city columnist for D Magazine, the city magazine of Dallas. (He remains a contributing editor to D Magazine.) As a communications consultant, Mr. Celeste has run successful political campaigns for Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt, and Dallas-area judges. His communications clients have included the Dallas Housing Authority, the Coalition for a New Dallas Super PAC, Oncor, and others. Until recently, he was the Associate Director for Publications at Learning Forward, a national nonprofit that advocates for high-quality professional development for teachers that improves student outcomes. Mr. Celeste graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Southern Methodist University.

Bill Dunne is General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Civitas Capital Group. He is responsible for all legal and compliance matters, including joint ventures and partnerships, investment structuring, financings, and day-to-day legal matters impacting the firm’s investments and operations.

Prior to joining Civitas in 2015, Mr. Dunne was an attorney at Busch Ruotolo & Simpson, LLP, where he provided legal advice and representation to regional clients concerning securities offerings, regulatory matters, litigation, arbitration, and corporate matters. Prior to becoming a licensed attorney, Mr. Dunne began his career at Fifth Third Securities and worked as a financial advisor at Fidelity Investments. Mr. Dunne has previously held FINRA Series 7, 63, and 65 licenses.

Mr. Dunne received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Finance from Northern Kentucky University. Mr. Dunne is admitted to practice law in Texas.

Austin Khan is an experienced hotel and real estate investment management professional and a senior member of the Investments team at Civitas. Mr. Khan’s 23 years of experience in real estate principal investment and advisory roles encompasses hospitality, office, multifamily and retail investments throughout the capital stack. Mr. Khan brings over $1.2 billion in lodging investment experience and $3 billion of total real estate transaction experience to Civitas Capital Group.

At Civitas, Mr. Khan is responsible for general management of the firm’s lodging investment team. He serves on the firmwide Investment Committee as well as various other committees, boards, and the like related to Civitas lodging investment vehicles.

Mr. Khan most recently served as Managing Director of Blue Lion Capital, LLC an investment and advisory firm focused on real estate special situations investing. Prior to Blue Lion Capital, Mr. Khan was Chief Investment Officer of Ethika Investments, a $1.2 billion real estate private equity platform focused on opportunistic equity investments and high-yield credit, with a significant focus on the hotel sector. There, he oversaw investments in 15 hotels throughout the United States, including acquisitions and significant redevelopments.

Prior to Ethika, Mr. Khan served for five years as Vice President of Acquisitions at TRT Holdings, the parent company of Omni Hotels, among other holdings. In this leadership role, in addition to he worked with senior management to build three key lodging verticals for the firm: distressed credit, public-private development partnerships, and public company investing. Mr. Khan helped to lead the teams that developed the Omni Dallas Hotel and Omni Nashville Hotel.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Khan served as Real Estate Acquisitions Manager for OTO Development, focused on development of upper-midscale and upscale select service properties. Mr. Khan started his real estate career in investment banking roles at Banc of America Securities and Arthur Andersen. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Jeff Kiser joined Civitas after spending years specializing in EB-5 fundraising and investor relations. In the aggregate, he has helped raise over $1 billion in EB-5 capital across a range of projects. Kiser has worked closely with hundreds of families and individuals looking to pursue U.S. residency through EB-5 investment. Kiser’s clients have originated from all over the globe, including Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Kiser has particularly deep experience building relationship with investors and intermediaries in China and Taiwan. Prior to his EB-5 work, Kiser worked for the U.S. Department of State and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, China. Kiser holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Ohio University and a master’s degree in Politics from East China Normal University.

Mr. Lindig has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of the development and construction process. At Civitas, he is currently overseeing construction of eight projects totaling over $448 million in the office, multifamily, hospitality, and senior housing sectors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Lindig was Vice President of Development and Acquisitions at Medistar, where over seven years he developed more than 3,000 acres, primarily for mixed-use developments including hospitality projects, retail, and office. In addition, Mr. Lindig project managed the development of over $1.2 billion of hotel and resort construction, including complex historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Land Planning and Real Estate Development from the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University.

Sonja Milton is responsible for human resources at Civitas. In this role, Ms. Milton is responsible for all day-to-day HR operations at the firm, as well as for continuously improving the employee experience. She supports all firm growth and leadership initiatives, including mentorship, coaching, recruitment, performance management, compensation and rewards, employee relations, and people development.

In addition, Ms. Milton serves as a strategic partner to executive leadership, ensuring the firm maintains a people-oriented environment by recruiting, developing, and retaining talent; leading team-building initiatives; and overseeing employee engagement. She is the “culture keeper” of Civitas.

Ms. Milton is an integral part of living the firm’s purpose: “creating opportunities that enrich our investors, employees, and communities alike.” She aligns and refines how the Civitas team reflects the firm’s core values in our work and our actions. She previously served as the Manager of Culture and Administration at Civitas.

Ms. Milton holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences, both from Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Ryan Monteiro is a Managing Director of Finance & Accounting at Civitas Capital Group. He oversees all finance functions, including accounting, tax, financial reporting, planning, budgeting, treasury, and audit.

Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Monteiro was the Chief Financial Officer at Oaxaca Interests, a real estate development company and asset manager focused on urban core development. Prior to Oaxaca Interests, he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in management consulting. In this role, he helped build the finance function for a company with more than $2 billion in AUM. Prior to management consulting, he audited several multi billion-dollar private equity real estate funds in Dallas.

Mr. Monteiro received his Master of Business Administration, Master’s in professional accounting, and Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. He is an active CPA.

Mr. Patel is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and evaluating prospective investments and providing detailed analysis for consideration by the Civitas Investment Committee. He has originated, underwritten, or closed more than $500 million in debt and equity investments at Civitas, utilizing relationships with numerous best-in-class development, capital, and operating partners to access quality deals in U.S. gateway and other top markets. Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Patel was an Investment Manager with Headington Companies, where he managed over $300 million in real estate assets in hospitality, multifamily, and healthcare. Mr. Patel holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Marc Rucinski is a Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets for Civitas Capital Group. In this role, Rucinski, a longtime alternative investments and capital markets specialist, is focused on supporting and expanding Civitas Capital’s equity and debt investor base across the firm’s target asset classes including multifamily, lodging, and niche opportunistic investments. In addition, Rucinski is responsible for supporting the firm’s strategic growth plans into new markets and products.

Rucinski joins Civitas after a career that spans nearly three decades in which he has executed more than $45 billion in private equity and real estate transactions. This includes experience structuring funds, joint ventures, and co-investments structures at Citi Private Bank for ultra-high net worth investors and family offices. In addition, Rucinski has significant experience as a former investment banker advising public and private executive management teams and company boards on buy and sell side mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and financial strategy.

Rucinski was part of the senior leadership at Citi Private Bank that established and developed Citi’s global alternative investments platform and later directly led the reformation of a Hong Kong origination, diligence, and asset management office. While at Citi Private Bank, Rucinski served on Citi’s Global Alternative Investment Oversight Committee, which was responsible for approving over 80 global real estate and private equity funds, separately managed accounts, co-investments, and club structures that raised over $18 billion in capital commitments from Citi Private Bank clients between 2010-2021.

Most recently, Rucinski was Head of Capital Formation and Investor Relations at Trinity Investments in Los Angeles, where he led efforts to develop new investment products and joint ventures. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Citi Private Bank in Hong Kong and New York; Credit Suisse Securities in New York; Merrill Lynch in New York; and Accenture in Denver and Nashville.

Rucinski holds bachelor’s degrees in Science (Economics and Human & Organizational Development) from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.