The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation announced the 2023 officers of its Board of Trustees. Board Officers serving are:

• Nancy Pistorio, President, Madison Capital LLC as Chair;
• Zack Marsh, CFO, Orion First Financial, LLC as Vice Chair;
• Miles Herman, President and COO, LEAF Commercial Capital Inc. as Secretary/Treasurer; and
• Ralph Petta, President and CEO, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) as President.

Scott Thacker, Chief Executive Officer, Ivory Consulting Corporation, is Immediate Past Chair.

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

New members appointed to the Foundation Board of Trustees include:

• Andrew Blacklock, Vice President, Strategy and Business Operations, Cisco Systems Capital Corporation;
• Cindy Fleck, Senior Vice President and General Manager Equipment Finance, Channel;
• David Normandin, President and CEO, Wintrust Specialty Finance; and
• Ricardo E. Rios, COO, Commercial Equipment Finance, Inc.

“It’s a privilege to have the leadership experience, professional expertise and commitment of our Trustees to guide the Foundation in 2023,” said Pistorio. “We’re grateful for their dedication to furthering the Foundation’s mission, which benefits the entire equipment finance industry.”

Trustees continuing on the Board for 2023 are:

• Peter Bullen, Executive Vice President, Key Equipment Finance
• Christopher Enbom, CEO & Chairman, AP Equipment Financing
• Valerie Gerard, Co-Chief Executive Officer, The Alta Group LLC
• Shari Lipski, Principal, ECS Financial Services, Inc.
• Mark Loken, Vice President, Credit, Farm Credit Leasing
• Nancy Robles, President, Eastern Funding LLC
• William Tefft, SVP Equipment Management, Pacific Western Bank
• Thomas Ware, President, Tom Ware Advisory Services, LLC
• Bonnie Wright
• Donna Yanuzzi, Senior Vice President, Equipment Finance Officer, First National Community Bank (FNCB)

Kelli Nienaber will continue to serve as Executive Director.

Steven R. LeBarron Award

Research Committee Chair Thomas Ware honored Enbom with the Steven R. LeBarron Award for Principled Research. A member of the Foundation Research Committee (FRC) and a Foundation Trustee since 2018, Enbom has participated on several FRC steering committees on topics ranging from Independents, AI/robotic technology, funding securitization and syndication, as well as an upcoming Foundation paper on the supply chain. He was a member of the Managed Solutions Workgroup during the development of the 2016 study on the topic, and he was instrumental in the development of the COVID-19 Impact Survey which tracked the impact of the pandemic on the equipment finance industry from the beginning of the pandemic until the end of 2021. This award is presented annually in memory of Steven LeBarron to the FRC member who demonstrates the insight, fortitude and dedication he exemplified.