A seasoned team of professionals with well over 100 years of Arizona real estate experience leads El Dorado Holdings, with strong backgrounds in planning, legal, engineering, marketing and finance. Our team’s expertise adds value to every one of our properties through annexation, zoning, planning, engineering, development and sound operational management.
Our Leadership
Mike Ingram, Founder & Chairman
Mike Ingram founded El Dorado Holdings, Inc., in 1987 with Mark “Monty” Ortman (retired) with a staff of one and a single escrow property south of Phoenix. That property, John Wayne’s El Dorado Ranch, was the catalyst for growing a network of investors and land holdings strong enough to weather the real estate cycles and economic swings of the next few decades.
Ingram moved to Phoenix in 1987 with his family and personal work ethic to rise through adversity, stay focused on goals and deliver on commitments. Before moving to Arizona, he grew Tufts & Sons of Oklahoma into a company with $100 million in annual sales. When oil companies in Texas and Oklahoma went through a deep economic crisis, a chain of non-payments swept through all levels of industry, causing Ingram to sell off his successful businesses. With the sale, he paid off creditors, avoiding bankruptcy while necessitating a fresh start.
Ingram’s focus on hard work and responsibility came at an early age when his father passed away. At the age of 11, Ingram put in long hours at the motel owned by his mother and picked up other jobs outside of school to help pay the mortgage.
Working his way through college, Ingram graduated from New Mexico State University with a bachelor of science in four years and no debt. He earned acceptance in the national honor society, Alpha Zeta.
Ingram is passionate about giving back to his community and his country. He is committed to a number of business and civic organizations, and serves on the boards of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Arizona-Mexico Commission, Barrow Neurological Foundation (Emeritus), Translational Genomics Research Institute Foundation, C. M. Russell Museum, Shikar Safari Club International Foundation and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He is one of the owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a Major League Baseball team. He is also actively involved with Pinnacle Forum, Focus on the Family, the Campus Crusade for Christ and its ministries within.
Chris Grogan joined El Dorado Holdings, Inc., in 2011 and is responsible for building, strengthening and maintaining investor relationships while identifying and evaluating real estate opportunities. He brings to the team an expertise in market analysis and analytics as he tracks and compiles valuable and extensive market knowledge.
Prior to joining El Dorado, Chris was with Arizona’s leading brokerage firm, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), where he developed expert market knowledge and expanded client relationships by providing top-tier, value-added services. Working for both CBRE Research and CBRE Brokerage Services, Chris specialized in commercial transactions including tenant representation and landlord representation, investment sales, land development and build-to-suit transactions.
A Phoenix native, Chris graduated from Brophy College Preparatory and went on to earn a bachelor of arts in business communications from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass.
Outside of the industry, Chris is involved in his community is a variety of fashions including Co-Chairing the Arizona Wingshooter’s Classic in conjunction with Arizona Game & Fish benefiting Wildlife for Tomorrow, he is an active participant in Athletes in Action’s rotational events including the Super Bowl Breakfast and Legends of the Hardwood Breakfast. He has served on the Scottsdale Cultural Council’s young leaders board – Avant Garde on 2nd and is a past vice president of public relations for Arizona Biltmore Toastmasters.
Brad Hinton joined El Dorado Holdings, Inc., in 2014. As Vice President, Brad manages the planning, engineering, and construction of El Dorado’s large master planned communities, ranging in size from 200 to 4,000 acres with a combination of residential and commercial uses. Brad has a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Arizona State University and over 15 years of experience in land entitlements and construction management.
Prior to joining El Dorado, Brad worked as land development manager for Meritage Homes and had several roles in the development services department for the City of Maricopa. As capital improvement program manager, he managed over $70 million in capital improvements – 2 fire stations, the new city hall, a police headquarters, a 100-acre regional park/sports complex and a multi-gen and aquatics center. Brad is on the board of directors for the Maricopa Flood Control District and Pinal Partnership.
Debra Bricker, Secretary/Treasurer
Debra Bricker joined El Dorado Holdings, Inc. on day two of the company’s inception. She is an officer overseeing multiple real estate holdings and serving as a liaison for all of El Dorado’s investors. Debra creates and maintains all records and ensures that El Dorado’s investors are well informed. She also assists El Dorado’s Chairman, Mike Ingram, in his many philanthropic endeavors.
Prior to her work with El Dorado, Debra served as development manager and vice-president of The Coulter Agency, a real estate and development firm based out of Gillette, Wyoming, that specializes in residential subdivisions and government assisted multi-family apartment complexes. The Coulter Agency conducts business in multiple locations throughout Montana, Wyoming and Arizona.
Stephanie Morrison, Designated Broker
Stephanie Morrison joined El Dorado Holding, Inc., in 2015. An Arizona native, Stephanie was born and raised in the Scottsdale area. Shortly after graduating from the University of Arizona she obtained her Arizona real estate salesperson license and managed a residential real estate appraisal company in Tucson prior to relocating to Los Angeles. While in California she worked for homebuilder Leisure Technology, Inc., specializing in active adult communities nationwide, and was the Assistant Project Manager for the company’s first single family residential product in Valencia, CA.
Stephanie moved on to become Executive Vice President for ZDI, Inc., a privately held commercial and multi-family development company specializing in retrofitting and rehabilitating older industrial warehouses in downtown Los Angeles, with a focus on artist loft conversions, leasing and property management, as well as the construction of new Class-A commercial buildings.
The lure of home drew Stephanie back to Arizona in 2007, where she worked as the Controller of food company Batter Blaster, and then as a Realtor® before becoming a member of the El Dorado family.