The Lighthouse Team

Sean C. Smith

Co-founder, CEO & President of Affordable Housing

Sean C. Smith is Co-founder, CEO & President of Affordable Housing at Lighthouse Development Partners. His work focuses on affordable and workforce housing development across Florida and the Southeast, with more than ten years of multifamily and commercial real estate experience across valuation, financing, underwriting, and development. Before co-founding Lighthouse, Sean worked in affordable housing development and finance, including acquisition, financing, LIHTC execution, public funding sources, underwriting, appraisal, and market feasibility. He is a U.S. Army veteran and holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of South Florida.

Harley Sisler Jr

Co-founder, CIO & Executive Chairman

Harley Sisler Jr. is Co-founder, CIO & Executive Chairman of Lighthouse Development Partners. A third-generation real estate developer, general contractor, and entrepreneur, Harley brings more than 15 years of experience across real estate development, investment advisory, private equity, and capital markets. His background spans ground-up multifamily, hospitality, student housing, and mixed-use assets, including prior work with Energy Real Estate Solutions Capital, Third Wave Development, RUliving, and Morgan Stanley. He holds a B.S. in Business, Global Trade & Commerce from Wake Forest University.

Maxfield Branson

Founding Executive, COO

Maxfield Branson is a founding executive and Chief Operating Officer of Lighthouse Development Partners, where he directs development execution and organizational technology across the firm's development platform. His work spans due diligence, acquisition, entitlement support, underwriting, capital coordination, 3rd party vendor and general contractor interface, draw administration, lender and investor reporting, schedule control, budget oversight, and internal operating systems from predevelopment through stabilization.