President
United Leasing & Finance
COO
Nexseer Capital
VP, Global Payment Solutions
HP Inc.
As Head of Worldwide Leasing and Financing, Deborah Baker is responsible for driving contractual business growth through an optimized, profitable multi-vendor leasing and financing Go to Market (GTM) solution.
Deborah is a finance veteran with almost 30 years’ experience supporting captive and vendor financing. She joined HP from Cisco Systems Capital Corporation where she served as Senior Director, Global Portfolio Services, supporting a $12B Global Portfolio of ~5000 lease and loan customers in over 100 countries, maximizing sales enablement and ensuring fiduciary responsibility.
Prior to joining Cisco Capital in 2011, Deborah spent 10 years with Hewlett-Packard Financial Services at their headquarters in New Jersey supporting end user financing products in the US, Canada and US Public Sector as well as internal (embedded lease) financing products. Prior to Hewlett-Packard Financial Services, she held a variety of roles with CIT (formerly AT&T Capital), including roles in Business Development, Sales and Operations. As a Six Sigma Champion and Talent Ambassador, Deborah is passionate about Process Improvements, Learning and Development and Talent Management.
Deborah is a member of the Board of Directors for the Equipment Leasing and Financing Association (ELFA), the Chair of the ELFA Women’s Council, and a member of ELFA Equality. In addition, Deborah is a member of the Editorial Board of The Monitor publication, The Independent Voice of Equipment Finance. In 2019, she was named one of the Top Women in Equipment Finance by The Monitor.
Deborah holds a BS in Business Administration and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ. She currently resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with her husband Chris. Their son Griffin is studying Cybersecurity at the Southern New Hampshire University. Outside of work, Deb enjoys hiking, bicycling and cooking.
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.
Director, Financial Services Investment Banking
Truist Securities
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.
CEO
Trio Capital Solutions
VP, Research & Industry Services
Equipment Leasing and Finance Association
Chief Administrative Officer
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
President & CEO
U.S. Bank
Director
The Alta Group LLC
Executive Vice President
Post Road Equipment Finance
Executive Managing Director, Huntington Asset Finance
Huntington Equipment Finance
Legal Counsel
DLL
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Mitsubishi HC Capital America, Inc.
API3 Foundation
President
Huntington Equipment Finance
Divisional President
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.
CEO
Eastern Funding LLC
Co-Chief Executive Officer and Strategy & Competitive Alignment Practice Leader
The Alta Group LLC
Principles Workshop Instructor
CEO, Principal Consultant
illumination.io
Joe developed a passion and expertise in information security after over 20 years of experience as an IT leader in hospitals, clinics and financial trading institutions. This passion has led me to found illumination.io, a cybersecurity consulting firm in Rockford, IL. He had served most recently as the CIO for Rockford Orthopedic Associates prior to being regional CIO for Adventist Midwest Health. He also served as the Manager of Information Security for Calamos Investments in Naperville Illinois. Previous to these roles, Joe was CTO and CSO for Rockford Health System in Rockford Illinois for over 16 years, which was listed on Hospital and Health Networks Top 100 Most Wired 7 consecutive times.
Joe has become an active author and speaker specializing in the fields of health care information technology and information security. He has written articles for Information Security Magazine and CIO/CSO magazine. He has published the majority of his publications in the last few years with TechTarget, an online security news site. He has limited experience in the leasing and finance industry but have a basic understanding due to my roles in executive leadership.
Joe has been active in many non-profit standards workgroups including the Health Information Security and Privacy Security Working Group for Illinois which developed an early framework for Health Information Exchange. He was also a volunteer for Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) Security Working Group developing standards for ARRA certification of electronic medical records. He has also worked as a volunteer with the Cloud Security Alliance to develop security standards for cloud services.
Joe has a BS from Millikin University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.
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.
Founder, COO
Sigma Ratings
Product Manager
LTi Technology Solutions
Current Member of the ELFA Operations and Technology Committee, Peter Haug is Product Manager at LTi Technology Solutions – the market-leading platform provider to the equipment finance industry. Since joining LTi in 2009, Peter has enjoyed collaborating with thought-leaders in the industry to understand and solve the critical challenges the industry is facing.
Recently, Peter has presented on technology topics covering innovation and the customer experience.
In his free time, Peter enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, watching soccer, and learning languages.
Vice President
Keybridge Research, LLC
Jeff Jensen is a Vice President at Keybridge, where he serves as an economic and policy advisor for small businesses, industry associations, and government agencies. Jeff has 15 years of experience applying economics, data analytics, and program evaluation techniques to a wide range of public policy issues, including macroeconomic policy, federal regulatory policy, environmental policy, immigration, flood insurance and hazard mitigation, equipment finance, and credit and debit card markets.
Before joining Keybridge, Jeff spent 4 years at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where he specialized in transportation security and related homeland security issues.
Jeff holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Carleton College and Master’s degrees in Public Policy and Environmental Management from Duke University.
Half the Sky Leadership Institute, Inc.
VP, Risk Analytics & Decision Sciences
Channel
Senior Managing Director - North American Specialty Finance Leader
Accenture
Cam is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Financial Services practice and is responsible for North American Specialty Finance market. He has over 30 years of experience in the automobile and equipment finance markets. He has worked extensively with most technology platforms across all equipment types and phases of the lease/loan life-cycle.
Partner
Thompson Coburn LLP
Chief Executive Officer
Resolvion, LLC
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 35 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.
Director, Senior Counsel
Volvo Financial Services
Chief Product Officer
LTi Technology Solutions
Marketing Director
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.
Sr. Counsel
PNC Equipment Finance
VP, Process & Automation
QuickFi
Global Product Manager, Retail Product Families
John Deere Financial
Career Highlights:
2019 Global Product Manager, Retail Product Families, JDF
2018 Director Global Retail Operating Platforms, JDF
2016 Region Finance Manager, Eastern Region U.S., JDF
2015 Director Strategic Planning and Business Development, JDF
2013 Director Wholesale Account Management, JDF
2010 Manager Retail Credit, JDF
2008 Manager Credit Operations, JDF
2004 IT Division Leader, JDF
2001 Agribusiness Product Development Manager, JDF
Previous Employment:
2000 Field Services Manager, Cybercrop.com, Ft. Collins, CO
1991 Purchasing and Transportation Manager, Purina Mills, Inc.,
St. Louis, MO
Affiliations & Organizations:
Deere ERGs: WomenReach, WORLD & I, Rainbow, Abled, BERG
Women Lead Change: Metro Women Connect Steering Council
Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA)
-Ops & Tech Committee
United Way Education Leadership Initiative
AHeinz 57 Pet Rescue and Transport
Other Development:
Smith-Tuck Leadership Program for Women
Global Leadership 2030 (2016-1017)
CEO
Channel
Adjunct Professor in Finance --Duquesne University
Chief Risk Officer
Tokyo Century (USA) Inc.
COO/CXO
CoreTech Leasing, Inc.
With over two decades of experience as a Certified Lease and Finance Professional (CLFP), Candace has consistently harnessed her expertise to drive operational efficiencies and establish scalable solutions in the realm of equipment leasing. Her extensive tenure in the industry has molded her into an equipment generalist and fervent enthusiast for the nuances of equipment lease dynamics.
At the heart of her journey lies CoreTech Leasing, where Candace has assumed the pivotal roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Experience Officer. Guiding Operations and Syndications, she orchestrates strategic initiatives that amplify client value on a grand scale, solidifying CoreTech's standing as an industry frontrunner.
Candace's CLFP accreditation underscores her unwavering commitment to continuous learning and mastery of industry intricacies. This qualification empowers her to navigate intricate financial landscapes with finesse, shaping informed decisions that resonate across CoreTech's operational landscape.
Through adept leadership, she not only sustains CoreTech's competitive edge but propels it to unprecedented altitudes, infusing innovation into every operational facet. Her all-encompassing experience provides her with a holistic perspective on operational workflows, enabling her to forge seamless synergies between departments and foster collaborative excellence.
Candace's dedication to refining operational nuances, coupled with her strategic acumen, has earned her a reputation as a dynamic leader who transforms concepts into reality. By steering Operations and Syndications, she engineers fluid client experiences that resonate profoundly, solidifying CoreTech's position as an industry vanguard synonymous with excellence.
In essence, Candace's professional voyage is marked by an unrelenting pursuit of operational mastery, a fervent zeal for equipment leasing, and an unwavering dedication to propelling CoreTech Leasing towards an innovative and prosperous future.
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, 6th – 9th 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.
COO
Commercial Equipment Finance, Inc.
SVP, Financial Services Leader
Equifax
CEO
LiftForward, Inc
CoBank Enterprise Leader, Cash Management
Farm Credit Leasing
Former CNBC Chief Economist and Co-Host of SQUAWK BOX
SQUAWK BOX
John Deere Financial
Senior Director
Cisco Systems Capital Corporation
SVP/Portfolio Management
Orion First Financial, LLC
Partner
Blank Rome LLP
Joel is a frequent writer and lecturer on bankruptcy issues. He recently spoke at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop on “Anything but Bankruptcy!: ABC’s of Receivership and Other Alternatives” and wrote an article for the Journal of Corporate Renewal regarding the Bankruptcy Abuse, Prevention, and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.
CEO
First American Equipment Finance, an RBC / City National Company
Managing Director
Stonebriar Commercial Finance
SVP, Chief Marketing Officer
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.
EVP of Analytics and Advisory
GDS Link LLC
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.
Vice President, Capital Markets
Cisco Systems Capital Corporation
Chief Executive Officer
Ivory Consulting Corporation
New Product Development & Sales Enablement Specialist
Siemens Financial Services, Inc.
Director
The Alta Group LLC
President
Tom Ware Advisory Services, LLC
Now an independent analytics, risk, and credit scoring consultant, Tom Ware was for 18 years Senior Vice President of Analytics & Product Development at PayNet, which was acquired by Equifax in 2019. In that role he was responsible for the development of PayNet’s MasterScore and probability of default models, which have been used by hundreds of lenders to help decision millions of commercial loan and lease applications worth over $300 billion. He was also responsible for creating loss forecasting models, peer lender performance benchmarking and Strategic Business Reviews, and for developing a wide variety of research about commercial lending that appeared regularly at ELFA conferences as well as in the Wall Street Journal, American Banker, RMA Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Crain’s, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP, CNBC, ABC News, Congressional Testimony, and the published papers of two Federal Reserve Governors.
Prior to PayNet, Tom had 17 years’ experience as a lender with banks and finance companies, including as General Manager of a billion-dollar division of J.I. Case/CNH Capital, and as Chief Credit Officer & Senior Vice President, Operations of Rockford Industries, a NASDAQ-traded finance company that was acquired by American Express. Tom began working with commercial credit scoring in the mid-1990s, when he was responsible for bring scoring to a mid-sized bank, and within a few years developed scores that were auto-decisioning 40% of applications under $100,000. Previously he founded Sequa Credit Corporation, later acquired by Hypercom. Tom began his career with a Boston management consulting firm that became the New England office of Oliver Wyman.
Tom is Chairman of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Research Committee, and is a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and its Executive Committee. He is a long-time member of the ELFA’s Credit & Collection’s Committee, and previously served on ELFA’s Small Ticket Business Council, and on the Board of Governors of RMA’s Washington D.C. & Maryland chapter. He is a frequent contributor to Equipment Leasing Today and the Monitor, where he published, as a three-part series of articles, “The 12 Secrets of Commercial Credit Scoring.” The ELFA selected him as the 2021 recipient of the Michael J. Fleming Distinguished Service Award, for contributions to the Association and the industry. Tom graduated with Distinction in Mathematical Economics from Dartmouth College, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Partner
Blank Rome LLP
Managing Director
The Alta Group LLC
Chief Commercial Officer, BMO Transportation Finance
BMO Harris Bank
Geopolitical Strategist and Forecaster
Author, The Absent Superpower