The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation announced the 2020 slate of officers of its Board of Trustees.

Board Officers serving are:

• Scott Thacker, Chief Executive Officer, Ivory Consulting Corporation, as Chair;
• Bonnie Michael, Vice President, Legal and General Counsel - United States, Volvo Financial Services, as Vice Chair;
• Nancy Pistorio, President, Madison Capital LLC, as Secretary/Treasurer; and
• Ralph Petta, President and CEO, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) as President.

Jeffry Elliott, Senior Managing Director, Huntington Equipment Finance, is Immediate Past Chair.

The officer elections were held during the Board’s annual meeting.

New members appointed to the Foundation Board of Trustees include:

• Miles Herman, President and Chief Operating Officer, LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.;
• Brian Madison, President, TrinityRail Leasing and Management Services; and
• Donna Yanuzzi, Director, Vendor & Small Business Equipment Finance, F.N.B. Equipment Finance. 

“In compiling the 2020 Board, we identified a diverse group of people who have a love of research and education, along with a desire to impact the future of equipment finance by encouraging new ideas and ways of thinking within the industry,” said Scott Thacker. “I am grateful for each person’s voluntary commitment to serving the advancement of the Foundation.”

Trustees continuing on the Board for 2020 are:

• Jeffrey Berg, Executive Vice President, DLL
• Katie Emmel, Chief Operating Officer, International Decision Systems
• Christopher Enbom, CEO & Chairman, AP Equipment Financing
• Valerie Gerard, Senior Managing Director, The Alta Group LLC
• James Johnson, Ph.D, Retired, Professor of Finance, Northern Illinois University
• Donald Link, Vice President and General Manager, Medium and Small Ticket Finance Division, Hitachi Capital America Corp.
• Zack Marsh, CFO, Orion First, LLC
• Thomas Petersen, Executive Vice President, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
• Michael Romanowski, President, Farm Credit Leasing
• Thomas Ware, President, Tom Ware Advisory Services, LLC

Kelli Nienaber will continue to serve as Executive Director. 

Steven R. LeBarron Award
Research Committee Chair Thomas Ware honored Jeffry Elliott, a former Research Committee Chair and Immediate Past Chair of the Board, with the Steven R. LeBarron Award for Principled Research during the Foundation’s annual research planning meeting, which was held along with the annual board meeting. Elliott has been a dedicated leader of numerous Foundation research project steering committees, including the 2018 and 2019 Horizon Reports, New Technologies Video, Managed Solutions, and Fintech. This award is presented annually in memory of LeBarron to the Research Committee member who demonstrates the insight, fortitude, and dedication he exemplified.