Equipment Leasing and Finance Association - Investing Forward

Stewart Abramson

Senior Managing Counsel

Michael Baez CLFP

Senior Vice President, Professional Services
Solifi

Michael Baez, CLFP is the Vice President of Customer Strategy and Professional Services with Leasepath, driving delivery and innovation for the industry-leading technology solutions provider. Michael is a subject matter specialist in equipment finance. For almost 40 years, he has worked extensively in the financial services industry with global experience in equipment finance, credit risk, corporate treasury, cash and wealth management, process and risk management, operations, and technology.

Zacharia Baldwin

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Paul Bent Esq

Senior Managing Director
The Alta Group LLC

Paul Bent is a senior managing director of The Alta Group and head of the firm’s Legal Services and Business Quality Assessment Practices. With more than 40 years of experience as an investment banker, equipment leasing CEO, and transaction attorney, Paul has participated in all facets of leasing and corporate financing. As a leader in the consultancy, he provides Alta clients with insight and advice in assessing both strategic and tactical business plans and alternatives, developing and implementing leasing transactions and structures, reviewing business and documentation practices, and analyzing asset-based financing alternatives.

He serves as a testifying expert in legal matters involving leasing, transaction structuring, and contract interpretation; and he provides services as a neutral arbitrator in difficult disputes over leasing and corporate finance. He also works as a professional singer, performing in the Los Angeles area and on multiple motion picture and video game soundtracks, including “World of Warcraft.”

He earned his A.B. from UCLA, with highest departmental honors in mathematics and computer science, and his J.D. from Southwestern Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Southwestern University Law Review.

Axel Bernabe

Assistant Counsel to the Governor for Health
New York State Executive Chamber

Michael Beschloss

American Historian, Author

Susan Carol

Chief Strategy Officer
Foresight Marketing Agency

Susan Carol, APR, has earned a respected reputation in a worldwide market of equipment finance, healthcare and technology clients. Her Virginia-based agency, Susan Carol Associates Public Relations, Inc., founded in 1989, has served start-ups, major multinational corporations, publishers and expansion-stage firms, as well as trade associations needing full-service public relations, branding or marketing communications campaigns.

 

With a visionary perspective, Carol continually looks beyond individual projects and considers the “big picture,” advising on how client interests are affected by emerging media, cultural and economic forces. Her team – including seasoned strategists, writers, designers and new-media experts – provides counsel on the full spectrum of public relations and marketing needs, from branding and establishing B2B marketing channels to managing communications crises and leveraging the power of new digital and social media communications.

 

An accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America, Carol is a frequent speaker to national and international audiences on a variety of public relations topics. She is also an ELFA board member, has presented at previous ELFA conventions and currently serves on the association’s Communications Committee. In the mid- 1980s, Carol was employed as Director of Communications for the ELFA, then known as the AAEL. Her experience also includes managing corporate and U.S. military communications, having served in a European post early in her career.

 

Active in her local community, Carol is a board member of the Women and Girls Fund of the Community Foundation in Fredericksburg, Va., and a volunteer for the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic.

 

Carol received a BA in journalism from Penn State University in State College, Pa. She began her career as a news and feature reporter for print and broadcast media.

Richard Chapman

Of Counsel

Andrew Cotter

EVP, Chief Information Officer
Somerset Capital Group, Ltd.

Andrew Cotter serves as Chief Information Officer for Somerset Capital Group, Ltd. and has been with the organization since 2002. Mr. Cotter is an experienced business leader and technology strategist providing vision and transformational leadership for more than 20 years. Mr. Cotter uses his extensive experience in people leadership, business operations, and technology innovation to partner with the organization. Through this partnership he develops effective plans and strategies to achieve meaningful results as well as enables continuous innovation needed to improve the customer experience required to succeed in the digital age.

Mr. Cotter serves on the board of Fairfield/Westchester Society for Information Management, is active on the ELFA Technology Innovation Working Group, and is the Immediate Past Chair of the ELFA Operations and Technology Committee.

Chris Couture

Vice President – Residential Financing and Asset Management

Chris Couture

Vice President – Residential Financing and Asset Management

Chris Couture

Vice President – Residential Financing and Asset Management

James Cress

Vice President & General Manager
Flex Financial, Stryker

James Cress has been an active member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) since 2000. He served on the Board of Directors for nearly a decade before being elected Chair in 2024. A former head of ELFA’s political action committee, LeasePAC, Cress’ top focus today is working with President and CEO Leigh Lytle to fortify the association’s advocacy efforts. He is similarly passionate about advancing ELFA efforts to support and mentor the next generation of industry talent. Cress is a long-time supporter of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s efforts in this area and often gives guest lectures to students interested in joining the industry.

In addition to his Board role, Cress serves as Vice President and General Manager of Stryker’s captive finance arm Flex Financial. He leverages more than 30 years of experience in banking and finance to help deliver financial solutions that make it easier for Stryker’s customers to reach their clinical and financial goals. His past experience includes serving as Senior Vice President and Vendor Business Unit Director at National City Commercial Capital and Vice President in Small Business Banking at US Bank before joining Flex Financial/Stryker in 2008.

Cress holds a B.S. in economics and an M.S. in executive leadership and organizational change from Northern Kentucky University.

Diane Croessmann

Director
The Alta Group LLC

Marilyn Crowley CPA CA

Ferrum Enterprises Inc.

Daniel Davidson

Partner & Global Consulting Leader for Commercial Banking
Genpact, LLC

Crit DeMent

Chairman
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.

Shannon Detling

Director

Shannon is a director in PwC's Financial Markets practice with over 12 years of experience.

Shannon regularly assists clients in addressing complex accounting issues under US GAAP and IFRS on a number of topics including derivatives and hedging, leasing, foreign currency, fair value, lending, transfers of financial assets, consolidation, financing (liabilities and equity), and earnings per share.

Shannon advises clients on financing strategy and capital markets alternatives, financial risk management, and valuation. He also assists clients with the design, implementation, and integration of treasury systems, processes and controls.

Shannon worked for two years in PwC’s national office in the accounting services group on the financial instruments team.

Prior to joining PwC, Shannon worked on the staff of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Shannon graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brigham Young University with a Master's of Accountancy and Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Shannon is a Certified Public Accountant in New York.

Kristian Dolan CLFP

CEO
Northteq

Kristian has been a technologist in the equipment finance space for almost two decades. Kristian started his career in equipment finance as a software engineer for CapitalStream (System1) out of Seattle, Washington. He started a consulting company E2E Systems in 2005 focusing on building straight through loan origination solutions for the commercial lending industry. They also built loan origination solutions for the mortgage industry. Subsequently, E2E Systems merged with Tamarack Consulting in 2013. Kristian continued to lead the loan origination practice as co-owner at Tamarack until 2020 when Northteq was spun off into a separate entity 100% focused on loan origination technologies and integrating with Fintechs.

Kristian has been actively involved in board, committee, and speaking engagements with the ELFA, NEFA, and the CLFP. Kristian’s passion is identifying 3rd party services FinTech services and enabling them for the equipment finance industry. Kristian has written articles for the industry including “There’s an API for that” (available per request) which has some overlap to this research. As well, Deborah Reuben and Kristian Dolan co-authored the Equipment Finance Software Guide (available per request).

Kristian is the lead researcher in the ELFF study being conducted.

Kristian graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with degrees in Management Information Systems and Japanese. He lives with his wife and 3 children in Minneapolis, MN.

Michael Donnary

Senior Director - Banking, Leasing and Lending
Capgemini America, Inc.

Michael Donnary is a business and technology consultant with management and hands-on experience in optimizing asset finance IT organizations.  He has demonstrated a proven ability to leverage the benefits of IT to solve business issues while managing cost and mitigating risk. Michael has spearheaded the selection and implementation of package solutions as well as development and deployment of and custom applications, driving business efficiency resulting in significant cost savings.

Client engagement work includes project management, system selection and implementation, custom software development, global IT strategy, enterprise architecture and organizational change management. Michael started his career in banking technology at Metropolitan Bank Group, and worked as Director of Information Technology at Prime Capital Corporation before becoming a consultant to the Asset Finance industry. Michael is Committee Chair of the ELFA Operations and Technology Committee, co-author of the Business Technology Performance Index, a regular industry author and speaker, and has led asset finance training programs in India, France and North America.

Alex Doubinkine

Director of Global Credit Operations
Cisco Systems Capital Corporation

Jonathan Fales

Vice President/General Manager
GreatAmerica Financial Services

Andy Fishburn CLFP

Former Senior Vice President of Public Policy

Keelie Fitzgerald

SVP, Marketing

Keelie is Odessa’s SVP, Marketing, responsible for global marketing and communications. A seasoned asset finance marketer, she is passionate about brand storytelling and translating complex technical concepts into market-ready content. Prior to joining in 2009, she developed B2B marketing and design programs at JNPR. Keelie previously served on the ELFA Communications Committee and is now focused in her current terms on the ELFA Operations and Technology Committee and on the Board of Directions for the Odessa Foundation. Committed to building diverse teams that serve communities, Keelie is the executive leader for Women@Odessa and CSR in the Americas. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Temple University.

Emily Foley

Head of Global Marketing & Communications
Cisco Systems Capital Corporation

Robert Geis

Assistant Chief Counsel
First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance

Bob provides legal support to CIT’s small and mid-ticket lease and loan vendor business segments with an emphasis in the technology, industrial and healthcare markets through negotiation of vendor and end user agreements, and portfolio acquisitions and sales. Bob also provides legal and regulatory compliance support to CIT Bank subsidiaries.

Prior to CIT, Bob was in-house counsel with Barnett Banks in Florida for five years litigating consumer collection and bankruptcy matters followed by 10 years with Xerox Corporation as region counsel responsible for enforcing commercial leases, managing bankruptcy matters, and supporting its Public Sector Leasing division. Immediately prior to joining CIT, Bob worked for Metavante Regulatory Services as Compliance Manager and provided regulatory compliance advice, training, and consulting services to financial institutions.

Bob received his law degree from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from University of South Florida. Bob lives in Jacksonville Florida with his wife and two daughters.

Nathan Gibbons CLFP

Chief Experience Officer
QuickFi

Nate is the Chief Experience Officer and one of the founders of QuickFi - a fintech company that leverages emerging technology to bring dramatic improvement to the business equipment financing process.

Nate began his career at First American Equipment Finance (an RBC Company) where he became Vice President of Operations before being asked to develop and manage the company's learning and professional development strategy. While at First American, Nate received the Chairman’s Award (the company’s highest honor) for excellence in character and leadership.

Nate has become a regular conference speaker nationally and internationally - speaking on topics related to leadership, innovation, professional development, and diversity. He is also a strong advocate for the equipment finance industry. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), is a member of the ELFA’s Academic Outreach Committee, former Chair of the ELFA’s Political Action Committee, former President of the Board of Directors for the Certified Lease and Finance Professional (CLFP) Foundation, and former Chair of the ELFA’s Emerging Talent Advisory Council.

Nate has an MBA from the University of Rochester -Simon Business School, and a BA in Spanish from the University of Rochester. He resides in Rochester, New York with his wife Keila, their two sons Noah and Micah, and their dog Maximus.

Christopher Gigliotti

Managing Director

RJ Grimshaw

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ABLE Leadership, LLC

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Edward Gross

Shareholder
Vedder Price P.C.

Edward K. Gross is a Shareholder at Vedder Price and a member of the Global Transportation Finance team.

He established the firm’s Washington, DC office and has over 30 years of experience representing bank-affiliated and large, independent equipment financing companies in all aspects of equipment finance transactions, including documenting, structuring, negotiating, syndicating and enforcing these transactions. Mr. Gross handles all types of equipment finance matters and structures, including single-investor, leveraged financings, true/ tax motivated leases, synthetic leases, TRAC leases, “bundled” and other vendor-originated financings, and domestic and cross-border financings, primarily for transportation equipment, but also for other types of equipment, including: manufacturing and assembly line, construction and drilling, energy-related and other facilities, medical and health-related facilities, high-tech equipment (including “bundled” financings), trucks and trailers, modular units and vessel repair equipment.

Mr. Gross is considered an industry leader in business aircraft and helicopter finance. These transactions vary in structure and include tax and non-tax lease, operating lease and secured loan financing of managed and/or chartered aircraft, fleet aircraft and helicopters operated in various service capacities (e.g., air ambulances, oil and gas service, flight schools, etc.) and engine pools, aircraft operated under fractional and “pay card” arrangements and progress payment, completion and other multi-funding structures. Clients include market-leading aircraft and helicopter financing providers, investors or operating lessors, as well as large publicly or privately held businesses, governmental entities or high-net-worth individual users. Many of these transactions involve foreign registered aircraft.

Many clients rely on Mr. Gross in syndication transactions, including large portfolio purchases, “one-off” sales and assignments, discounting, back-leveraging and participation transactions. He has worked with Vedder Price’s Capital Markets team on securitizations of diverse asset classes. Mr. Gross has prepared lease, loan and syndication forms for many of the most active financing providers in the industry. Working with Vedder Price’s well-regarded bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice, Mr. Gross has assisted financing providers, including various creditor groups, with workout, restructuring, bankruptcy and enforcement matters.

Mr. Gross has been selected for inclusion in numerous editions of Who's Who Legal’s The International Who's Who of Aviation Lawyers, including the 2014 edition in which Mr. Gross participated in a roundtable discussion. In the 2013 edition of that publication, Mr. Gross is named one of the top 500 aviation lawyers in the world, and is cited as “a go-to lawyer for finance, insolvency and restructuring…well-respected by commercial clients.” In 2016 through 2020, Mr. Gross was ranked Band 1 in Private Aircraft (Global-wide) in Chambers High Net Worth, which recognizes the world’s leading high net worth advisers. In addition, in 2013 Mr. Gross was ranked in Chambers USA in the Nationwide Banking & Finance: Equipment Finance & Leasing category. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in Washington DC Super Lawyers (2007–2020) and The Best Lawyers in America (2007–2021) in the field of Equipment Finance Law. Mr. Gross was elected as Fellow to the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers in 2011, and elected as Regent to the College in 2012. He has been recognized by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), receiving the Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and ELFA’s Legal Committee Edward A. Groobert Excellence in Leasing Award in 2011.

A client respondent in Airfinance Journal’s 2011 Guide to Aviation Lawyers mentions, “Vedder Price can turn a deal in a day or two if necessary. Ed Gross is our go to person for time-sensitive matters.” He also recognized among the world’s leading aviation attorneys by in Euromoney’s Expert Guides “Aviation Guide” from 2013 to 2020.

Mr. Gross obtained his B.A. from the University of Maryland and his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Don Hansen

Chief Executive Officer
Regents Capital Corporation

Aaron Hill

Vice President & Lead Attorney
Farm Credit Leasing

Andrew Ingram

Global Head of Product Strategy

Cassandra John

Principal
Sif Capital Advisors

Emily Latham-Bolt

Head of HR

Dominic Liberatore CLFP

Deputy General Counsel
DLL

Dominic A. Liberatore is the Deputy General Counsel for DLL, a global provider of leasing and business finance solutions, including vendor finance.



Mr. Liberatore has been practicing law for 38 years focusing on leasing and asset based lending, and has served in a variety of senior in-house legal positions with DLL, IOS Capital, Inc. (the captive finance subsidiary of IKON Office Solutions, Inc.), Copelco Financial Services Group, Inc. and the FDIC. Prior to going in-house, Mr. Liberatore was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City and Wolf Block in Philadelphia. Mr. Liberatore is a past chairman of the ELFA Legal Committee, current ELFA Subcommittee Coordinator and a past chairman of the Subcommittee on Leasing of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the ABA Business Law Section. Mr. Liberatore is also a member of the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Equipment Lease Financing.



Mr. Liberatore holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from the University of Buffalo.

Jennifer Martin CLFP

Chief Product Officer
LTi Technology Solutions

Jen Martin is the Chief Product Officer at LTi Technology Solutions. In her role as CPO Jen leads the Product and Client Success teams. Jen is responsible for managing LTi's investment in new product and technologies, providing value added solutions to critical customer and market problems.

Jen Martin has been in the equipment finance industry and was at Key Equipment Finance (KEF) for 28 years. She has held many roles over that time including Operations Manager for various support/client service areas and Originations teams, Technology Project Manager, Technology product owner and Quality assurance manager. In 2019, she led the team that implemented ASPIRE and was a lead on the team that upgraded KEF’s end to end technology stack. Most recently, Jen Martin was part of the Key Equipment Finance senior leadership team, responsible for the successful execution of KEF’s technology roadmap, aligning technology tools with the needs of Key Equipment Finance’s clients and employees. Additionally, Jen led a sales enablement team that enables KEF’s growth success through data driven strategic modeling, problem solving, helping market Key’s capabilities and exceeding client expectations through the implementation of innovative technology tools.

Jen Martin is also a founding member of the ELFA Women’s council, immediate past chair for the ELFA Operations and Technology Committee/Conference, a member of the Monitor’s Editorial Board and is part of the ELFA’s Innovation Advisory council.

Erica McBride Stark

Executive Director
National Hemp Association

Tanya Menon

Associate Professor, Fisher College of Business
The Ohio State University

Tanya Menon is Associate Professor at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. Her research on decision making, influence, culture, teams, and networks has been cited in various media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Times of London (UK), The Guardian (UK), and The Times of India. She has taught courses on Persuasion, Negotiations, Teams, and Organizational Behavior and was the winner of the 2017 Best EMBA professor and 2013 Best Elective Award at the Ohio State University’s Fisher School of Business.

As Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, she won the teaching award in 2006 (working professionals) and 2007 (full time MBAs). She has conducted executive programs all over the world.

Prior to graduate school, she was a research assistant in INCAE Business School in Costa Rica and an intern in Morgan Stanley's London office. Menon earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Harvard University in 1995, and her Ph.D. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is currently Associate Editor at Management Science Journal. She wrote a book with Dr. Leigh Thompson, Stop Spending, Start Managing: Strategies to transform wasteful habits (2016, Harvard Business Review Press). Her tedxohiostateuniversity talk was recently featured on ideas.ted.com, Ted.com’s main site (go.ted.com/tanyamenon), reaching over 1.2 Million views.

Andrew Mesches

Director

David Miele Esq.

Chief Administrative Officer
Citizens Asset Finance, a division of Citizens Bank, N.A.

David Miele is an SVP and Chief Administrative Officer of Citizens Asset Finance, Inc. (“CAF”)which operates as a division of Citizens Bank, N.A. David has responsibility for CAF’s Documentation Teams (in Warwick, RI and Chicago, IL), the Customer Support Team, Process Improvements and runs the CAF Legal Team of four other attorneys and a paralegal.

David is an active participant with ELFA currently serving on the following subcommittees of the Legal Committee: Capital Markets, Motor Vehicle, Amicus Curiae, Legal Award and Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine. He previously chaired the Legal Committee in 2006, and served on the ELFA Financial Institutions Business Council Steering Committee from 2013 to 2017. David was the primary drafter of the ELFA Revised Code of Ethics promulgated in 2007. He has been a frequent lecturer at the ELFA Legal Forum and on web based seminars focusing on various aspects of equipment finance and documentation. He has also presented the ELFA Guest Lecture Program at local colleges and universities.

Kara Miyasato

Sr. Director
VB Spine

Kara Miyasato is the Director of Marketing for Stryker’s financial services business, Flex Financial. In this role, she leads a team responsible for product development, marketing communications, sales training, process improvement, and business analytics for North America and Europe. She sits on the Flex Financial leadership team.

In 2007, Kara began her career at Stryker at Stryker Endoscopy in San Jose, California. She relocated to Kalamazoo in 2008 and has held various individual contributor and management roles within Flex Financial in both operations and marketing. Her focus throughout her Stryker career has been around customer engagement, continual process improvement, and employee development.

Kara currently chairs the Emerging Talent Advisory Council (ETAC) for ELFA and sits on ELFA Equality. She was previously the ETAC liaison to the Captive & Vendor BCSC and was identified as Monitor’s inaugural Next Generation Leader for their Industry Icon Awards.

Kara holds degrees in philosophy and economics from Santa Clara University, attained her Master’s degree in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) as well as a Certified Lease & Finance Professional (CLFP). She sits on the board of directors for the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestras and resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan with her husband, Cullen Stevenson, and their son, Kai.

Amy Nelson

Michelle Palomera

VP - Customer and Digital Experience
Genpact, LLC

Bryce Ray

Deborah Reuben CLFP, DES

CEO & Founder
TomorrowZone

Deborah "Deb" Reuben, CLFP, DES, is CEO and Founder of TomorrowZone, a technology strategy consultancy inspiring fresh ideas and collaborations to shape the future of business. She encourages new thinking to explore the art of the possible through her extensive technical knowledge, equipment finance experience, and passion for challenging the status quo. Her expertise will enhance and broaden your company's products and services and create efficiencies that will produce a competitive advantage for your company.

Her view on digital transformation and future-readiness is radically different with over two decades of innovating, speaking, and most importantly, real-life, in-the-trenches innovation experience in finance and software industries. Deborah appreciates and shares with clients and audiences that digital transformation is less about the digital and more about the people. When it comes to thinking about technology, innovation, and the future, you can choose to act today to shape your future. The best investment you can make is investing in what's between your ears by taking ownership of your personal growth. Everyone, regardless of role, must stay on top of technology and trends to stay ahead of tomorrow.

What surprises most clients is her ability to combine big company thinking and entrepreneurial ideas to create marketplace success. Deb's clients and audiences include companies like PNC, Wells Fargo, DLL Group, Huntington (TCF Bank), Dell, Mitsubishi UFG, Caterpillar, Key Equipment Finance.

She currently serves on the CLFP Foundation Board of Directors and authored The Certified Lease and Finance Professionals' Handbook, 6^th – 9^th editions. She served on ELFA's Board of Directors and is the founder and chair of the ELFA Innovation Advisory Council. In partnership with ELFA, she and her team moderate quarterly industry innovation roundtables for the ELFA to bring forward-thinking insights and fresh ideas to ELFA Members.

Reuben also served on the Monitor Editorial Advisory Board and co-founded the Disrupted+ innovation conference series with Monitor. She is the recipient of both the CLFP Foundation Cindy Spurdle Award of Excellence and the ELFA Michael J. Fleming Distinguished Service Award. Monitor Magazine honored her as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women Leaders in Equipment Finance, named TomorrowZone one of the most innovative companies in the equipment finance ecosystem and honored her as an Industry Disruptor Icon. Learn more at tomorrowzone.io.

Steve Riggs

Barry Ripes

President, Co- Founder
PrivateCap

Jeffrey Rogers

CEO
LiftForward, Inc

Rafe Rosato

Senior Vice President

Marci Rossell

Former CNBC Chief Economist and Co-Host of SQUAWK BOX
SQUAWK BOX

Kathryn Ryan

Partner
Buckley LLP

Mark Scharenbroich

Leadership Expert, Author

Keynote Speaker
"Nice Bike - Making Meaningful Connections"

Mix thousands and thousands of black leather, bandana wearing, tattoo bearing Harley-Davidson riders with a 100th Anniversary and one beige rental car and the end result will be the perfect metaphor for connecting with others: "Nice Bike."

Nice Bike acts as a powerful catalyst to help build stronger, more unified teams. The message inspires audience members to be more engaged and passionate about connecting with others.

Join Emmy award-winning speaker, Mark Scharenbroich as he takes you for a fun ride on how to be effective at making meaningful connections in both your professional and personal life. His Nice Bike principle is supported by three strong actions: Acknowledge, honor and connect.

Mark has spent his career working in both industry and education discovering how some of the best organizations and team leaders build a culture that encourages people to perform at a higher level through greater engagement.

Part motivational speaker, part thought-provoker and pure comedic entertainer – Mark Scharenbroich will inspire, teach and engage you with Nice Bike.

Credentials: Award Winning Author, Emmy Award® winner for an ABC TV special, National Speakers Association Hall of Fame Inductee, Golden Apple and Silver Screen Film award for his movie, The Greatest Days of Your Life…(so far), International film festival award winner.

www.NiceBike.com Twitter: NiceBikeMark

Raja Sengupta

Executive Vice President and General Manager
Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions

Moorari Shah

Partner
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLC

Moorari K. Shah is Partner in the Orange County and San Francisco offices of Sheppard Mullin. He represents banks, equipment finance companies, fintechs, mortgage companies, auto lenders, and other non-bank financial institutions in transactional, licensing, regulatory compliance, and government enforcement matters covering mergers and acquisitions, consumer and commercial lending and leasing, and supervisory examinations and enforcement actions involving state and federal agencies.

Mr. Shah received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law (cum laude) and his B.A. from Duke University. He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) and a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Steven Siler

Chief Technology Officer

Kris Snow

Kristine (Kris) A. Snow has more than two decades of commercial leasing and finance experience. In 2009, she joined Cisco Systems Capital Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc. As President, she leads the company's global captive finance and certified remanufactured equipment businesses. Kris previously served as President of Global Vendor Finance at CIT Group.

Kris is currently serving as the Chairman of the Board at ELFA. During her tenure, Kris has been an active participant serving on the Board of Directors from 2008-2011 and returned to the Board in 2017. In addition to her current position on the Board, she is a member of ELFA's Executive, Nominating and Personnel Committees. Previously, she served as Chair of the Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee. She has also served as a participant in the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Industry Future Council and a contributor to previous “State of the Equipment Finance Industry” reports.

Outside of ELFA, Kris has been involved in numerous civic and community organizations. She serves on the Gonzaga University Board of Trustees and is Board Member Emeritus for St. Mary's College School of Economics and Business Administration. She was honored by the Computer Reseller News 2019 Women of the Channel list, received the Silicon Valley Business Journal's Women of Influence award, and the YWCA Tribute to Women Award for the Silicon Valley.

Kris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Gonzaga University and a Master of Business Administration from St. Mary's College of California.

Jud Snyder

President
BMO Harris Bank

Michelle Speranza CLFP

EVP, Chief Marketing Officer
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.

As Chief Marketing Officer for LEAF, Michelle Speranza, CLFP, is responsible for developing and directing execution of the company’s omnichannel marketing, corporate branding, and internal communications strategies. Michelle is a noted thought leader, advocate for professional women, and frequent contributor to ENX Magazine, the Monitor, and other industry publications. She is also Chair of the ELFA Women’s Council, where she leads work to support greater access and inclusion for women at all stages of their equipment finance industry careers. Michelle served on the marketing team for the Walt Disney Company prior to joining LEAF in 2005. She is a graduate of Gwynedd-Mercy College and attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to raising three energetic boys, two of whom are teenagers, and being active in their schools, Michelle is an avid reader and fitness enthusiast.

Scott Stewart

President
OnePlace Capital, a division of Bank Midwest

Scott has more than 35 years of experience in the equipment financing industry. He received a B.A. in Finance from the University of Iowa and an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship and Finance from De Paul University. After nearly three decades focusing on sales, marketing, business start-ups, and leadership in the financial services and real estate industries, he understands the ins and outs of what it takes to start, grow and lead a thriving business in today's competitive environment. Scott started his career with GE Capital Fleet Services in product development. A successful performance led him through GE Capital, where he held several leadership positions in a variety of industry sub sets. During his tenure at GE Capital he excelled at leading teams, building relationships, structuring terms, negotiating transactions, and implementing and managing captive finance programs. His entrepreneurial spirit prompted him to start his own successful small ticket finance company, which he eventually sold allowing him to focus on building a new company to feed his interest in commercial and residential real estate development. Back at the helm of an equipment finance company once again, Scott is passionate about building One Place Capital, currently in its 15th year of business, managing a portfolio in excess of $240MM. Scott is committed to providing vendor partners and borrowers the service they seek and the transparency they deserve in every transaction.

Tawnya Stone CLFP

Vice President, Strategic Technology
GreatAmerica Financial Services

Tawnya Stone, Vice President, Strategic Technology, is responsible for the overall strategic direction, oversight and implementation of customer-facing tools and products across various GreatAmerica business units. She works in close collaboration with business unit and functional leadership and external technology partners. Tawnya joined GreatAmerica in 2011 as an IT Project Manager and eventually evolved into subsequent roles that blended technology and customer facing activities. Prior to joining GreatAmerica she worked for Philips Electronics and Verizon Communications in the Washington DC metro area.

Tawnya was the previous President of the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA) and Executive Council member of CompTIA’s Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Community and past Chair of CompTIA’s Managed Print Services (MPS) Community. She was recognized by ENX as Difference Maker in 2016 and 2018. Tawnya also is a member the Technology Innovation working group and Chair of the Operations and Technology committee within the ELFA.

Jim Swift

CEO
Cortera, A Moody’s Analytics Company

Jake Tapper

Award-Winning Journalist; Anchor and Chief Correspondant, CNN
CNN

Scott Thacker CPA, CLFP

Chief Executive Officer
Ivory Consulting Corporation

Mr. Thacker is the Chief Executive Officer of Ivory Consulting Corporation, the software and consulting company that has helped define the modern equipment finance industry with the proven software solutions for modeling, analyzing, and pricing equipment leases and loans, managing equipment, and optimizing portfolios.

Scott is the immediate past chair of the Board of Trustees of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, where he is founding chair of The 1989 Society, the legacy giving initiative. He is also the founding chair of ELFA Equity, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative.

His previous volunteer roles with the ELFA include being a member of the Board of Directors, a member of the Finance Accounting Committee, chair of the Operations and Technology Committee, and co-director of the Foundation’s Research Committee.

Thacker is a member and DEI lead (leave of absence 2023) of Sand Hill Angels, one of the largest angel investment groups based in Silicon Valley. Previously, he served on the Board of Advisors of StartOut for over ten years and was a judge for the business plan competition for the Wharton Executive MBA program and the Visa Everywhere Initiative. He is a second-generation board member of The Ridgewood School.

Prior to joining Ivory Consulting, he was a partner at Accenture and earlier, a Senior Director at Oracle. Thacker began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co.

Thacker holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Accounting from Wake Forest University. He holds the C.P.A. (active) and C.L.F.P. certificates.

Mark Theis

Director

Phillip Thigpen

Director
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Katie Thompson

Siemens Financial Services, Inc.

Patricia Voorhees

Director
The Alta Group LLC

Jacob Wachman

Vice President, Digital

Kenneth Weinberg

Partner
CM Law PLLC

Ken Weinberg is a partner at Rimon P.C. and practices in the area of commercial finance, focusing on equipment leasing, equipment finance and energy finance. He represents bank-affiliated, captive, and independent finance companies in many transactional aspects of equipment leasing and finance, has experience with many types of equipment and facilities, and has been heavily involved in the creation of forms, policies and procedures for multiple bank-affiliated equipment leasing and finance companies. Ken has additional experience in the niche of energy financing, representing lenders, investors and developers in recourse and non-recourse financing transactions (debt and tax-driven sale-leasebacks) for energy facilities across the country and internationally, including biomass facilities, landfill-gas-to-energy projects, solar facilities, and natural-gas-fired plants. Ken contributes regularly to the equipment leasing and finance industry and, since 2002, has published approximately 100 editions of his regularly scheduled column, Dispatches from the Trenches, in the Monitor.

Geoff Whaling

Co-Founder and President
HIP Canopy Growth USA LLC