The ELFA Nominating Committee has named the following individuals to stand for election by the ELFA membership. If elected, all nominees will begin their term of service at the conclusion of the ELFA Annual Convention, Oct. 27-29. Each ELFA member company may cast one vote for each nominee. On Aug. 14, voting materials and instructions will be emailed to each member company’s key contact, who may then vote via confidential electronic ballot on the ELFA website. The voting will conclude Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. ET.
Deborah Lilley Baker
Chair-Elect
Deb is Vice President, Head of Global Payment Solutions with HP, Inc. and is responsible for driving contractual business growth through an optimized, profitable multi-vendor leasing and financing strategy for Commercial and Consumer Segments. She re-joined HP from Cisco Systems Capital Corporation, where she served as Senior Director, Global Portfolio Services, supporting a Global Portfolio of lease and loan customers in over 100 countries. Prior to joining Cisco Capital in 2011, Deb spent 11 years with Hewlett-Packard Financial Services (HPFS) supporting end-user financing products in the US, Canada and US Public Sector, as well as internal (embedded lease) financing products. She held a variety of roles with CIT (formerly AT&T Capital), including roles in Business Development, Sales and Operations. Deb is a member of the ELFA Board of Directors and has served as Chair of the ELFA Women’s Council and as a member of the ELFA Equity Committee. She holds a BS in Business Administration and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ.
Nathan Gibbons, CLFP
Vice Chair
Nate is the Chief Experience Officer and one of the founders of QuickFi by Innovation Finance. He oversees the strategy for enabling dramatic improvement to the customer experience. Prior to QuickFi, he served as VP, Operations, and Head of Learning and Professional Development at First American Equipment Finance. Nate is a strong industry advocate. He has served on the ELFA Board of Directors, Bank Business Council Steering Committee (BCSC) and Small Ticket BCSC, and he has Chaired the Emerging Talent Advisory Council and the LeasePAC Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Foundation’s Academic Outreach Committee. He also served as President of the Certified Lease and Finance Professional (CLFP) Foundation. Nate has a BA in Spanish from the University of Rochester, and an MBA from the University of Rochester-Simon Business School.
Kirk Phillips
Vice Chair
Kirk is President, CEO and one of the founders of Wintrust Commercial Finance since 2015. He is responsible for a team providing midsize and large ticket equipment financing solutions nationwide outside of the bank footprint of the greater Chicago/southern Wisconsin area. Kirk has over 34 years of experience in the industry including positions at ITT Commercial Finance, Transamerica Equipment Financial Services and AIG Commercial Asset Finance. He has held roles in credit underwriting, direct sales and executive management. He has been a speaker and moderator for ELFA, Marine Money International, Marine Money Offshore and Workboat conferences. He has Chaired the Bank Business Council Steering Committee and the LeasePAC Committee, and has served on other ELFA committees as well as ELFA’s Board of Directors. He is a regular attendee of Capitol Connections, advocating for issues that impact the equipment finance community. Kirk has been a Guest Lecturer and sits on the Executive Advisory Board of the Nelson Rusche College of Business at Stephen F. Austin State University and has been a strategic advisor to HEROMakers, a nonprofit providing support for orphans located in Latin America. He holds both an BBA and MBA in Finance from SFA.
Jeffry Elliott, CLFP
Treasurer
Jeff is President of Huntington Equipment Finance, a division of The Huntington National Bank. He is responsible for equipment financing for regional banking clients; municipal, university, school and hospital entities; and clean-energy banking clients. Jeff is an active volunteer with ELFA, having served on the Bank Business Council Steering Committee, the National Funding Conference Planning Committee and the Advocacy Advisory Committee. He received ELFA’s 2020 Michael J. Fleming Distinguished Service Award. In addition, Jeff is a former Chair of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation and recipient of the Foundation’s 2019 Steven R. LeBarron Award for Principled Research. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from the Richard T. Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and a Master of Business Administration from the Williams College of Business at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jeff is a Certified Lease Finance Professional.
Hollis Bufferd
Director
Hollis is the CEO and Managing Member of Star Hill Financial. She founded the company in 2016 to provide advisory services and equipment financing with a focus on going to market as a Women’s Business Enterprise. Before leading Star Hill, Hollis was the Chief Administrative Officer of GSG Financial from 2005 to 2017. She was instrumental in building the culture and was part of the leadership team that sold GSG to OnPoint Group LLC in 2016. Hollis is an active member of ELFA where she serves on the Independent Business Council Steering Committee and LeasePAC Committee. She’s also active with NEFA and the Advisory Council for Equipment Finance Cares. Hollis received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut School of Business.
Neal Garnett
Director
Neal is the Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Board Member at DLL. He is responsible for the company's commercial strategy and global business activities across key industry sectors. With over 25 years of experience at DLL, Neal has held various positions in Operations, Sales, Program Management and General Management and has worked internationally since 2000. Neal spent nearly a decade working at leading leasing and professional service companies, including HSBC Vendor Finance and PWC. He is a Chartered Accountant (CPA) and has served on the Bank of England's Chartered Accountant in Business panel. Neal holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of London and is an alumnus of the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia, where he completed the Executive Program.
Jon Gerson
Director
Jon is President of Executive Solutions for Leasing and Finance, a second-generation specialized executive search firm focused on commercial equipment. He joined ESLF while on sabbatical from Rutgers University and became President in 2013. Jon’s commitment to the equipment finance industry is underscored by his long-term involvement as an active member of ELFA. Among other endeavors, Jon has served on the Membership Committee at various points since 2013 and is a past Chair and current member of the Service Provider Business Council Steering Committee. He was actively involved in the Emerging Talent Advisory Council from 2016-2020. He is a frequent presenter at the ELFA events, including the Annual Convention and 2023’s Equity Forum. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rutgers while working full-time as an executive recruiter.
Robert Moskovitz
Director
Robert is the Chief Financial Officer of Verdant Commercial Capital. He has been in the equipment finance space for over 20 years, having been the CFO at LEAF Commercial Capital and TimePayment Corp prior to joining Verdant in 2020. Robert is active in industry advocacy initiatives surrounding tax reform, financial regulations and lease accounting. He is a member of the ELFA’s Federal Tax Committee. Robert began his professional career with Deloitte (formerly Touche Ross & Co) and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive), CGMA- Certified Management Accountant, and member of AICPA and PICPA. He holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Drexel University.
William Perry
Director
William is President of Regions Equipment Finance Corporation. He began his banking career in 1999 and joined Regions in March 2013. He has commercial banking and finance experience across multiple industry sectors. William has served as Managing Director for Regions Corporate Banking Group and Central Team Leader for Regions Equipment Finance Corporation. Prior to joining Regions, he held roles at GE Capital. He graduated from Georgia State University in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has been actively involved with ELFA, including serving as a member of the association’s Bank Business Council Steering Committee.
Theresa Provencher
Director
Theresa is a Managing Director and Syndication Manager of Capital Markets at Bank of America Global Leasing. She leads syndication activities for several segments. Prior to joining Bank of America in 2019, Theresa held roles at PNC (and its predecessor), GE Capital, Norlease and Comdisco. She has experience in direct originations and capital markets (buy and sell) over the course of her 30-year‑ career in equipment finance. Theresa is an active ELFA member, currently serving on the association’s Bank Business Council Steering Committee. She holds a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago.
Moorari Shah
Director
Moorari 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. He has been an active volunteer advisor on ELFA’s State Government Relations issues. His comprehensive approach emphasizes navigating contractual, operational and regulatory hurdles to achieve real-world business outcomes. Moorari received his J.D. from Boston University and his B.A. from Duke University. He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional and a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
Pasqual Slaughter
Director
Pasqual is Vice President of Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation for North America, with responsibilities in enterprise relationships, sales and services growth initiatives and finance operations across the region. Pasqual joined Cat Financial in 2000 after six years in the finance industry and has served in sales and credit roles in Nashville, Tennessee; Peoria, Illinois and Denver, Colorado. His most recent position was Vice President, structured finance. From 2008-2013, he was regional sales & marketing manager for Cat Power Finance based in Singapore. He was based in Dubai from 2019-2021 as managing director of Cat Financial's Middle East region. While in Dubai, Pasqual established the Indirect Retail Finance Program with African dealers to offer retail customer financing in local currency. He holds a bachelor's in business administration from Jackson State University and is an active volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
2025 Officers
James Cress
Chair
Rob Boyer
Immediate Past Chair
Deborah Baker
Chair-Elect
Nathan Gibbons
Vice Chair
Kirk Phillips
Vice Chair
Jeff Elliott
Treasurer
Leigh Lytle
President and CEO
Ed Rosen
Secretary
