• Who We Are
  • - Meet Our Team
• How We Work
• What We've Done
• Where We've Been

Our team is comprised of diverse individuals, united by a desire to do great work and achieve success through the pursuit of a client-centric approach to every assignment. We pride ourselves on forging lasting relationships, not just completing transactions. Each member of our team is an accomplished industry and search veteran, fluent in the real estate and/or nonprofit sectors. This affords each Terra Search professional the ability to confidently and precisely capture the unique characteristics and requirements of each client assignment and to identify and match the right candidates to opportunities based on experience and culture.

Matt Slepin, founder, managing partner
Prior to starting in search, Matt held leadership, management and functional roles within the real estate industry for more than 20 years. He was founder and executive director of the Multifamily Housing Institute in Washington, DC. Matt has also worked in key development, advocacy and finance positions for the National Housing Partnership (developing and acquiring housing for seniors), National Association of Housing Cooperatives (as a lobbyist) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (helping lead the RTC's affordable housing program). He further rounded out his real estate expertise with NV Commercial, a northern Virginia-based commercial property company, and Reilly Mortgage, one of the country's leading apartment lenders. During 10 years as an executive recruiter, Matt has worked with several firms. He served as a partner at Heidrick and Struggles following its acquisition of Argonaut Search Group, where he was a managing director. Later, at Ferguson Partners, he opened a San Francisco office for the firm and was responsible for leading activities in the multifamily equity and mortgage finance sectors. Matt graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from Oberlin College.

Community Commitment: Supporter of Seeds of Peace, the Urban School of San Francisco, the Jewish Home of San Francisco, the Urban Land Institute, Mercy Housing, and other charitable organizations. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Home of San Francisco.

Personal Passions: Road biking in Marin County; relaxing with his wife, Diane Olmstead and kids, Sarah and Cali; cooking, playing guitar and tennis.
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Stephanie Pearson, partner
Over the past 11 years Stephanie’s executive search practice has been dedicated to real estate and related financial services sectors. Her extensive background and experience, including Partner with the global firm of Heidrick & Struggles and Senior Director with the boutique firm of Ferguson Partners, define how she partners with clients in formulating successful strategies for recruiting top-tier leadership talent. Throughout her practice Stephanie has worked with senior and C-level national leadership talent across all sectors of real estate, including the investment management and financial services and across all property types, including residential, commercial, industrial, and retail. She has completed CEO, CFO, and Board level search assignments for multiple clients representing a broad group of public and private real estate companies. Her 15-year tenure as a residential and commercial developer (commercial office, single family, apartments, and senior housing communities) affords her a unique “insider’s” perspective. Stephanie received her B. S. in Business Administration, with a minor in Spanish, from the University of California, Berkeley. She pursued graduate studies in Innovation and Finance at the University of The Pacific.

Community Commitment: The San Francisco-based educational opportunity organizations of Omega Boys Club and Megan Furth Academy and The Urban Land Institute. Member of the University of Southern California Lusk Real Estate Center.

Personal Passions: Traveling with extended family in Italy and the perpetual study of the Italian language, hiking the trails of Marin County, skiing the Rockies and cooking family dinners.
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Bill Whitlow, partner
Bill's 25 year tenure in the real estate industry provides Terra with deep insights and industry and functional context across a broad spectrum of areas including finance and capital markets, investment strategy, asset and property management, development and leasing. During his career he has held senior positions at firms such as Venture Corporation, Studley, Arthur Andersen, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Aetna Realty Investors, where he has executed in excess of $3 billion in debt and equity transactions, and has provided capital markets, strategic management consulting to clients on projects and portfolios valued in excess of $6 billion. Bill's experience includes the leadership of three property management companies. He also has deep expertise in capital raising, strategic and operational advice and client relations. Bill holds a Masters of Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Illinois.

Community Commitment: Active supporter of Project Open Hand, AIDS Foundation, Sacred Heart Schools, Urban Land Institute and other charitable organizations. Past Board member of the San Francisco Bay Area YMCA, the San Jose Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Silicon Valley Roundtable Executive Board of the University of Illinois Foundation.

Personal Passions: Travel to other lands and experience new cultures, avid participant in motorcycling, snowboarding, boxing and scuba diving, drummer, self-appointed architectural design critic, and relaxing on the deck with family and good friends to enjoy the sights and sounds of our quiet San Francisco Bay-fed lagoon.
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Alan Greenwald, managing director
With 30 years of experience in real estate, Alan has worked in a wide variety of capacities and settings. Prior to joining Terra, he was Principal of GreenGrove Partners (San Francisco and Washington DC), where he managed a workforce housing equity fund for a group of bank and insurance company investors. Immediately prior to that, he served as President and CEO of AF Evans Company, a Bay Area multifamily/seniors housing/mixed-use owner, developer and manager. He had already deepened his financial and management skills creating, marketing, and closing complex securitized apartment financial products for the Fannie Mae multifamily group in Washington DC. Prior to that, he led project finance and investment management teams at Oxford Realty in suburban Washington DC. Alan conducted housing public policy research and experimental housing subsidy programs for the Rand Corporation in Los Angeles and Washington DC, after practicing law in the land use and real estate area at Brobeck Phleger & Harrison in San Francisco. He graduated from University of California, Berkeley, where he also obtained a joint degree in Law & City and Regional Planning. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the State Bar of California, Alliance of Chief Executives, and Lambda Alpha (an honorary land economics organization). Alan has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Multi Housing Council.

Community Commitment: Founding member and Treasurer of Community Counsel for the Homeless at Friendship Place, a non-profit organization providing coordinated social services to homeless citizens of Northwest Washington DC. Member, Board of Directors, Community Housing Trust, which owns and provides rental housing for formerly homeless citizens of Northwest Washington DC.

Personal Passions: Travel, running, hiking, music (‘60s and ‘70s rock and folk to opera), gardening, renovating every house he’s owned.
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Heidi Holzhauer, principal
Curious and adaptable, Heidi has a broad background that allows her to move easily through diverse worlds, whether working with senators in Washington, DC; assisting with development of regulatory programs for energy in California; or identifying leaders in real estate, finance, affordable housing, technology, healthcare and industry businesses, as well as nonprofit foundations. With nine years of experience in the search industry, she began her recruitment career at Heidrick & Struggles. Heidi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Puget Sound.

Community Commitment: Board member for Napa-Sonoma chapter of Summer Search, a national youth development nonprofit; volunteer precinct worker for elections; culinary co-chair for the 2007 Napa Valley Wine Auction; and member of the St. Helena auxiliary board for the Community Foundation for the Napa Valley.

Personal Passions: Film (favorite movies: Harold and Maude, The Big Lebowski, Sense and Sensibility, The Best Years of Our Lives); wine (especially Spottswoode sauvignon blanc); relaxing in her wine country home; and cheering on the Oakland A’s.
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Caroline “Linny” Simkin, principal
Linny began her search career at Heidrick & Struggles in Los Angeles before later joining its San Francisco office. As an executive search professional with more than 17 years of experience, she has focused on executive and management positions in real estate investments in the areas of acquisitions, asset management, wealth management, finance and accounting and marketing/capital raising. Linny graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theater from Pomona College.

Community Commitment: Active supporter of Sacajawea Elementary, a small, public, ethnically and socio-economically diverse school in the Maple Leaf neighborhood in Seattle.

Personal Passions: Creating music (proudest piece: “The Reason Why,” written for her kids); watching her children’s talents bloom (Peter, age 13, sings and plays a mean drum and Callie, age 10, studies cello and is the go-to girl when it comes to hamster knowledge); serving as a shining example of a true Seattleite: knowing how to pronounce Puyallup and geoduck and not owning an umbrella.
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Valerie Glover, project coordinator
Valerie brings a strong history of executive search and talent acquisition experience to Terra Search. From Nordstrom to Heidrick & Struggles to Yahoo!, Valerie’s project management skills, her effectiveness in communicating with diverse personalities, and her ability to see the big picture and get things done do her well as Terra’s search Project Coordinator. She is working toward a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and studied Liberal Arts at the College of Alameda.

Community Commitment: San Francisco Food Bank, Breast Cancer research and support, March of Dimes, and Habitat for Humanity.

Personal Passions: Classic Cars (she has a 1966 - 289 v8 Coupe and a 1995 - 5.0 convertible), entertaining: planning and hosting parties, shopping with and “styling” her friends, and hanging out with the people in her life.
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Marsha Evans, accounts manager
Detail focused, project minded and creatively inclined, Marsha keeps the Terra Search accounting functions moving forward. Prior to joining Terra Search Partners, she worked at Heidrick and Struggles. In her pre-recruitment days, Marsha served in a variety of project management roles in music, theater, film and television. Marsha studied film and television production at UCLA and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications/public relations from Washington State University.

Community Commitment: Active supporter of Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, St. Anthony’s, NARAL, MoveOn.org, SFSPCA, local dog park groups, and environmental causes.

Personal Passions: Listening to music (Nirvana and all the Seattle bands of the 90s, current alternative, classical, and lounge music); finding new adventures to share with her dog; and attending the theater.
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