Our team

Fernando De Leon is the founder and CEO of Leon Capital Group, a holding company overseeing twelve independently-managed subsidiaries in the three divisions: financial services, healthcare and real estate. Leon operates as a diversified holding company that takes the lead conceiving, developing, owning, and operating businesses.

Founded as a modest real estate development company in Texas, Leon has since evolved into a diverse holding company, capable of operating successfully across multiple geographies and industries. Today, Leon’s subsidiaries and externally managed companies encompass ~ thousands of employees.

In Leon’s real estate holdings, Mr. De Leon has made real estate investments with an asset value of $15B+. Leon Capital has invested in or developed approximately 20,000 rental housing units, 25M SF of industrial, 15M SF of retail, self-storage, healthcare assets, and 10,000 lots of land in residential subdivisions. Additionally, Leon Capital, along with the Perot Companies, co-founded a European industrial operating company, which has developed over 40M SF of logistics assets in the European Union.

In Leon’s healthcare branch, Mr. De Leon and his team at Leon founded and currently operate Specialty Dental Brands, Frontline Dental Implant Specialists, Advanced Medaesthetic Partners, Physician Directed Partners, Texas Heart Partners, Mattison Avenue, and Turnwell Mental Health which collectively manage over 600 locations and provide healthcare to approximately 2 million people annually.

Leon Financial currently operates the investment management business and its various fund offerings. Leon Financial operates Bastion Insurance, Finsurity Premium Finance and Patient Capital, a specialty lending business designed to increase the accessibility of all Americans to critical health care offerings.

Mr. De Leon is a co-founder of Crexi, one of the largest digital marketplaces connecting buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants in the commercial real estate sector. Crexi’s intelligence products support 3M real estate professionals with real time transaction data.

Mr. De Leon began his career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York. He received a BA, cum laude, from Harvard College, where he was a Hoover Foundation Scholar and a National Coca Cola Scholar.

Mr. De Leon received the Horatio Alger Award and was inducted into the organization’s membership in 2025. Additionally, the De Leon Family Foundation focuses its work on poverty in south Texas and northern Mexico, and expanding access to healthcare. The foundation’s De Leon Scholars program awards scholarships to ten students annually across the state of Texas, who endeavor to improve their communities

Hunter Dallas serves as President of Direct Investments at Leon Capital, where he oversees new operating company formation, strategic execution and growth across the firm’s diversified operating subsidiaries. He is responsible for identifying and scaling new business lines, structuring complex investments, and driving growth across LCG’s healthcare and financial services verticals.

Mr. Dallas is deeply involved throughout the full investment lifecycle – from underwriting and deal structuring to post-close operating strategy, governance, and growth. His work centers on scaling new businesses through organic and inorganic growth initiatives as well as designing innovative capital solutions to align long-term stakeholders and accelerate platform outcomes.

During his tenure, Mr. Dallas has co-founded and scaled multiple operating companies that have grown to represent over $3.5 billion in aggregate enterprise value, supporting more than 400 locations and 3,500 employees nationwide. He has also been instrumental in launching LCG’s structured finance and insurance capabilities, including affiliated reinsurance and bespoke capital structures built to optimize investment returns and mitigate downside risk.

Prior to LCG, Mr. Dallas was in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in the financing group. He previously worked at Caterpillar Financial in their in-house management consulting program, holding various credit and operational roles. He received a B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University.

Joshua Canafax is the Chief Investment Officer of Real Estate at Leon Capital Group, where he currently serves on the firm’s Investment Committee, oversees investor relations and is responsible for the establishment and oversight of the strategic direction, capitalization, and portfolio management of each real estate platform.

Mr. Canafax’s career with Leon spans over a decade where he was instrumental in the formative years of the firm and has participated in over 450 transactions encompassing $10 billion of real estate value across the U.S. and Europe. He played a critical role in the establishment of Leon’s European Industrial investments and was heavily involved in Leon’s early operating companies in healthcare and technology. Mr. Canafax’s breadth of experience spans all facets of the life cycle of an investment, and he currently oversees Leon’s real estate holdings in the European Industrial, Healthcare and Credit verticals.

Mr. Canafax holds a Master of Real Estate degree from Texas A&M University and graduated summa cum laude from Midwestern State University with a BBA double major in Finance and Accounting.

Prior to joining Leon Capital Group, Sean was responsible for creating and growing the development department for Dalfen Industrial, one of the nation’s largest buyers of industrial real estate.  During his tenure at Dalfen Industrial, he grew the company’s pipeline of projects from two company owned parcels totaling 16 acres to a nationwide, billion-dollar pipeline of more than 1,000 acres and more than 11 million square feet in 3.5 years.

Prior to joining Dalfen, Sean was a Development Director at Hillwood Investment Properties, where he was responsible for leading the development of warehouses, distribution centers, and logistics-oriented properties in Memphis, Nashville, and Cincinnati. Prior to Hillwood, Sean managed redevelopment projects totaling 3.7 million square feet for Rouse Properties.

Sean earned a Bachelor of Science in Building Construction from The Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Georgia.

Cory Calvert serves as Head of Capital Formation at Leon, where he is responsible for raising and securing capital for co-investments within the organization’s direct investment arm. In addition, he oversees the strategic development of Leon Financial Network’s investment fund business. Additionally, Mr. Calvert actively identifies opportunities for minority investments in Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), helping facilitate their expansion and operational growth.

Prior to joining Leon, Mr. Calvert served as Head of US Wealth at Apollo Global Management within the RIA/IBD Channel. His career in alternative investments has also seen him hold the role of CEO/Head of Distribution at Griffin Capital Securities and as National Sales Manager at Cole Capital.

Mr. Calvert holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Denver College of Law.

Doug Puckett is the Chief Administrative Officer of Leon and also the CFO/CCO for the firm’s investment management platform, Leon Capital Management. In these roles, Doug is responsible for helping launch and grow various platforms of the firm including real estate and direct investments in diverse industries ranging from financial services to medical practices and technology, and for launching and managing the administration of the firm’s investment funds.

Prior to joining Leon, Doug was the National Leader of the Private Equity Practice for Deloitte Tax, as well as a regional private wealth and real estate tax leader for the firm. Prior to Deloitte, Doug was with Helmsman Advisors LLC where he provided strategic tax and business planning advice to private equity firms, hedge funds, and family offices of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Prior to his time at Helmsman, he spent over a decade with TPG Capital, one of the world’s largest private equity and hedge funds, with a primary focus on managing the firm’s global tax risk – including U.S. and foreign tax planning and structuring, tax controversies, and treaty/substance best practices for both the investment funds and internal (IPO ready) holding company structures. In addition, as deputy CFO and head of the founders’ family office, he oversaw much of the back-office operations of the firm and the founders’ personal financial and tax matters.

As both a CPA and CFP^®, Doug has extensive expertise in advising individuals and their businesses on all manners of business and personal tax and business matters. Doug has authored or co-authored several Thomson-Reuters (PPC) publications, such as Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions, Guide to Practical Estate Planning, Guide to Buying and Selling Small Businesses, Practitioners 990 Deskbook, and Practitioners Tax Action Bulletins.  Doug holds a Master of Professional Accounting (MPA) degree and a Bachelor of Business Administration – Accounting degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mr. DeGiorgio founded Crexi in 2015, after identifying an inherent need to create an open marketplace and technology solution for the commercial real estate industry. Prior to founding Crexi, he helped establish Auction.com (now Ten-X), the online auction platform, where he spent four years managing teams and earning a reputation as one of the top sales producers in the company. There, Mr. DeGiorgio managed 400+ CRE transactions and teams totaling $1B+ over four years.

Mr. DeGiorgio earned his Business Degree from Northern Illinois University, from which he won the 2018 Outstanding Young Alumni award and where he also serves as a visiting lecturer teaching entrepreneurship to business students.

Chris Scales currently serves as Specialty Dental Brand’s Chief Financial Officer, a position he assumed in February 2017 as part of the management team that launched Specialty Dental Brands, an oral health organization supporting the nation’s top pediatric dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, and endodontists with best in class business support.

Prior to SDB, Mr. Scales worked with the Healthcare Transaction Advisory Group at Ernst Young. During this time, he led or participated in due diligence efforts relating to a multitude of buy-side and sell-side transactions in the health care industry, ranging in size from $5 million to $1 billion. Mr. Scales previously worked as the Director of Finance/Controller at Parallon/HCA’s Nashville Shared Service Center. He began his career in May 2009 as an auditor for LBMC.

Mr. Scales graduated with a BS in Economics from Western Kentucky University and received his Master of Accountancy from the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Tennessee.

Blake Schroeder is President of Multifamily for Leon Capital Group, where he oversees the firm’s multifamily development, investment management, and construction businesses. He has been with Leon Capital Group for over a decade and has played a central role in building and scaling the company’s multifamily platform.

During his tenure, Blake helped grow the division from a regional developer into a national multifamily investor with offices across the country. He has been directly involved in the development and acquisition of more than $3 billion in multifamily investments, with experience spanning ground-up development, acquisitions, and complex capital structures. His responsibilities include strategic investment oversight, execution, and coordination across development, operations, and construction.

Blake holds a Master of Real Estate degree from Texas A&M University and is an active member of the Dell Children’s Foundation.