Foundation Welcomes 2022 Board of Trustees, and First Woman Board Chair, Nancy Pistorio.

Learn more about Nancy Pistorio, President of Madison Capital

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation Board of Trustees met in December in Washington, DC, to elect 2022 officers, approve the 2022 budget and set programming plans for the coming year.

Guided by strong leadership, expertise and dedication to the industry, the Foundation is thrilled to announce its 2022 Board, including the first woman Chair.

• Nancy Pistorio, President, Madison Capital LLC - Chair
  
• Zack Marsh, CFO, Orion First Financial, LLC  - Vice Chair 
  
• Scott Thacker, Chief Executive Officer, Ivory Consulting Corporation, - Immediate Past Chair
  
• Jeffrey Berg, Global Business Unit President – Advanced Solutions, DLL - Secretary/Treasurer
  
• Ralph Petta, President and CEO, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) - President 
• *Peter Bullen, Executive Vice President, Key Equipment Finance
• Katie Emmel, Chief Operating Officer, Solifi 
• Christopher Enbom, CEO & Chairman, AP Equipment Financing 
• Valerie Gerard, Co-Chief Executive Officer, The Alta Group LLC
• Miles Herman, President, and COO, LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.
• Shari Lipski, Principal, ECS Financial Services, Inc.
• *Mark Loken, Vice President, Credit, Farm Credit Leasing
• Brian Madison, President, TrinityRail Leasing and Management Services
• *Nancy Robles, Chief Operating Officer/Compliance Officer, Eastern Funding LLC
• William Tefft, SVP Asset Management, Pacific Western Bank 
• Thomas Ware, President, Tom Ware Advisory Services, LLC
• Bonnie Wright
• Donna Yanuzzi, SVP - Director of Equipment Finance, 1st Equipment Finance

Kelli Nienaber will continue to serve as Executive Director.
*New Trustees

Meet Nancy Pistorio, Foundation Chair

I got a chance to meet with Nancy Pistorio over Zoom to learn a little more about her deep connections to the Foundation and vision going forward. Below is a condensed version of our conversation.

CV: How did you originally become involved in the Foundation?
NP: I was approached by the Nominating Committee for the Foundation 4-5 years ago and asked about my level of interest in serving. I may have been on the Nominating Committee’s radar, so to speak, as I had previously served on a couple of ELFA’s Business Council Steering Committees and participated on the Industry Future Council.

CV: How has your participation changed over the years?
NP: In a nutshell, as I became more engaged with my participation on the Board of Trustees, I became more passionate about the Foundation’s mission and more vested in its continued success. I originally joined the Board as a Trustee in 2017, serving on the Finance Committee. Shortly into my tenure I was asked to take on the role of Treasurer, a position about which I was hesitant at first but ended up enjoying quite a bit. I discovered I could make a real impact in that role by looking at a few things with a different lens. After a year and a half or so as Treasurer, I was approached about filling an unexpected vacancy in the Vice Chair role. I gave it careful consideration in terms of commitment and impact, ultimately accepting the role. Stepping into my predecessor’s shoes as Chair of this very talented Board will be both a challenge and an honor.

CV: How does the Foundation provide value to you and others in our industry?
NP: The research reports we publish throughout the year on numerous topics can be very helpful in strategic planning for equipment finance firms. They can help to quantify target markets, identify trends and even avoid potential pitfalls in future operations.

CV: Why is it important to support the Foundation financially to ensure it continues to provide this value?
NP: We are the equipment finance industry’s preeminent source for meaningful forward-thinking research. Financially supporting the Foundation ensures we will be able to continue to engage high-quality content providers to deliver valuable data and projections for the future.

CV: How important is it to you to inspire the next generation of equipment finance leaders?
NP: I very much enjoy giving back to an industry that has been wonderful to be a part of for so many years. Creating industry awareness among the next-generation workforce by volunteering to deliver guest lectures at our country’s colleges and universities is one way to do that. I’ve spoken at some local Maryland institutions: Towson University, Morgan State College, Salisbury University and the University of Maryland, College Park. The Foundation’s guest lecture and scholarship programs are helping today’s students envision and build career paths to our industry.


 CV: You’re our first female Chair, how does that feel?
NP: It is an honor to lead this Foundation, and especially so as its first woman Chair. Over the last several years, there has been some significant progress toward diversity and inclusion in our industry. In this role, I am pleased to be part of that continued progress. For many people who may have felt they did not have a seat at that table, seeing people who look like them in leadership roles allows them to pursue their own visions for success. I’m also pleased to report that 7 of our 18 trustees are now also women. 

CV: What’s your vision for the Foundation’s direction in 2022 and beyond?
NP: When we look at our strategic plan, adopted in May of 2020 and directed by our previous Chair, Scott Thacker, I believe we have achieved or are on the way to achieving most of our goals. For me, it’s about expanding our goals—growing our base of donors even further, achieving greater size and scope to provide more research, and creating additional academic outreach opportunities like the upgrading of our scholarship program from 3 to 5 annually. There’s still a lot of room to grow in terms of perception of the Foundation; under my Chairmanship, I intend to connect those in our industry who are not fully aware of us with the Foundation’s fantastic resources. This will help the Foundation be sustainable well into the future. We owe much to Scott and our previous chairs, who have kept the Foundation in such a strong place over the years. I see many opportunities for even greater awareness and output of the Foundation, and I am excited for our future.