Colin Hart

Colin Hart is the co-founder and Managing Director of Freedom Development, a commercial real estate investment company. Established in 2010, the Company provides equity capital to acquire and re-develop multi-family and mixed-use properties in and around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Prior to establishing Freedom Development, Mr. Hart owned and managed Vanquest Capital Advisors, an investment advisory firm domiciled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, specializing in Eastern Europe, and served as the CEO of Vanquest Investments Limited, a privately held investment company targeting emerging and frontier markets.
From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Hart was interim President and CEO of the largest independently owned French petroleum storage and distribution company, Dyneff S.A., after leading its leverage buyout.
Mr. Hart was a Principal at Milestone Merchant Partners and served as Chief Operating Officer in Bucharest, Romania of the Romania and Moldova Direct Fund, L.P., a $20 million private equity fund, from 1997 to 2004, conducting acquisitions in Romania’s post- Communist era privatization process.

From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Hart served as an Associate with The Carlyle Group and was a member of Carlyle’s Economic Offset Advisory Team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia assisting the Saudi government identify and implement joint venture projects in the petrochemicals, waste recycling, food processing and biogenetics sectors.
From 1993 to 1994, Mr. Hart was the International Business Analyst at Reed Smith Shaw & McClay in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hart received his Master’s of Arts in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University in 1993, where he served as the President of the Alumni Chapter of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Middle Eastern and Asian Studies from the University of Virginia in 1989, where he was member of the University of Virginia’s Rowing Team from 1985 to 1988 and served on the student Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Hart is a Trustee of the George Mason University Foundation and chairs its Investment Committee. He also serves as a Member of the Board of the Stephenson Foundation which provides grant funding for the protection, exploration and education of and about the oceans. 

Mr. Hart has also studied at the American University in Cairo and the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France. Mr. Hart is fluent in French, is married with two children and lives in McLean, Virginia.