Jeffrey Small is the cofounder and CEO of MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based real estate investment firm specializing in industrial properties that manages discretionary funds on behalf of large university endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds. Under Jeff’s leadership, MDH has completed over $8 billion of acquisitions and developments, totaling over 110 million sq. ft. of properties in 35 markets across the country.
Prior to founding MDH, Jeff was the President and CEO of MD Hodges Enterprises, an Atlanta-based industrial development company founded by his grandfather in the 1950s. In 1999, Jeff sold his family business to Blackstone and then continued to run it for them for 5 years before selling it a second time in 2005, after which he started MDH with his former executives. Jeff began his career practicing international corporate law as an attorney with King & Spalding.
Jeff graduated with a BA in Political Science with Distinction from Yale University (summa cum laude), with a JD from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) and earned a Masters in the Study of Religions from Oxford University in England (Oriel College). Jeff enjoys teaching and has lectured at the Harvard Business School, which published a case study (MDH Partners: Evolving a Family Legacy) on Jeff’s career. He has also lectured at Yale, Stanford, Emory, and the Universities of Georgia and Texas. Jeff serves on the Episcopal Advisory Board of Candler School of Theology at Emory University, where he has also taught as an Adjunct Professor. Prior nonprofit board memberships include serving as a Trustee of the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Trinity School in Atlanta, and the General Theological Seminary in New York. Prior corporate board positions include being a founding board member of Indcor, a Blackstone company, from 2011-2015 and SolAmerica, a solar energy developer, from 2012-2022.
In his spare time, Jeff enjoys writing and has published two award-winning, best-selling novels (The Breath of God and The Jericho Deception) along with an academic text. In another unusual hobby, Jeff and his wife, Alison, spent over a decade as competitive ballroom dancers, becoming US Amateur Champions in 2003 and representing the US at the Word Senior (over 35) Latin Championships. Today, they live in Atlanta and enjoy mellower outdoor activities of hiking, biking, kayaking, hunting, and fishing. Their daughter Ella earned her PhD in Biomechanics at the University of Texas in Austin and works for the Pittsburg Pirates while continuing to live in Austin.