George Fatheree

Mr. Fatheree’s latest venture aims to close the wealth gap by helping employers provide down payment assistance for their employees to become home owners and build wealth, while offering employers a powerful tool to improve recruitment, loyalty and retention.

As one of the nation’s leading real estate attorneys, Mr. Fatheree led many of the largest and most complex real estate transactions in the country representing investors, developers, lenders and sports team. Mr. Fatheree has also emerged as a preeminent advocate on legal transactions involving Black empowerment and culture: he served as the lead attorney representing the descendants of African-American entrepreneurs Willa and Charles Bruce in the landmark return of the Bruce’s Beach property – the first time in U.S. history in which the government has returned property to a Black family; he advised the Black Owned and Operated Community Land Trust, the first in California, in its acquisition of a retail center as part of an effort to “de-gentrify” Leimert Park in South Los Angeles; he represented a consortium of foundation in the acquisition of Ebony and Jet magazine photography archive, comprised of over 4.5 million images; and he advised Black Lives Matter Los Angeles in its acquisition of a headquarters building and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in the acquisition and development of the Shonda Rhimes Performing Arts Theatre.

Mr. Fatheree clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Before becoming an attorney, Mr. Fatheree worked in public education reform as the Chief Operating Officer of the California Charter Schools Association, as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company and Booz·Allen and co-founded an internet company, for which he was named one of Silicon Alley’s Top 25 Minority Entrepreneurs.

Mr. Fatheree has received numerous recognitions and awards on account of his legal work and advocacy, including the Living Legends Award for Service to Humanity, twice recognized as California Lawyer Attorney of the Year, 40 Acre Conservation League’s Land Justice Award, Council for Urban Professional’s Legal Trailblazer of the Year and the Daily Journal’s Top 100 Lawyers in California. In 2023, he was selected as the Grand Marshal of the Kingdom Day Parade, the nation’s largest and longest running celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Mr. Fatheree graduated cum laude from Harvard University and received his law degree from Loyola Law School. He serves on the boards of Loyola Marymount University, Destination Crenshaw and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Read Less ^