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. 22-24. 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.
James Cress
Chair-ElectJames is the Vice President and General Manager of Stryker’s Captive Finance arm, Flex Financial. He joined the company in 2008 and is responsible for delivering financial solutions that make it easier for Stryker’s customers to reach their clinical and financial goals. Previously, James was Senior Vice President and Vendor Business Unit Director for eight years at National City Commercial Capital and he spent several years as a Vice President in Small Business Banking at US Bank. James has been an active member of ELFA since 2000 and has served as a Director on its Board. He served as Vice Chair since 2022 and is the current Board Liaison to the Emerging Talent Advisory Council. He has previously served as LeasePAC Chair, regularly attends Capitol Connections, has been a member of the Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee and Women’s Council, and has provided Guest Lectures at Michigan State University. James holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in executive leadership and organizational change from Northern Kentucky University.
Deborah Baker
Vice ChairDeb 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, maximizing sales enablement and ensuring fiduciary responsibility. 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. Prior to HPFS, 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, former Chair of the ELFA Women’s Council and 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 ChairNate 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, Small Ticket Business Council Steering Committee, Emerging Talent Advisory Council (Chair), and LeasePAC Committee (Chair), as well as the Equipment Leasing & Finance 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.
RJ Grimshaw
TreasurerRJ is President & CEO of UniFi Equipment Finance. After serving in the U.S. Air Force for three years and at the age of 23, RJ cofounded Scriba Town Inn with his brother and father. They transformed the STI firm from an idea into RJ’s first million-dollar business. RJ then began a career in equipment finance, rising to his current position in 2013. He has led a committed team in the regeneration and rebranding of a 45-year-old company into one of the fastest-growing companies in North America. He has increased UniFi Equipment Finance’s yearly volume from $13 million to over $115 million and is frequently asked to speak and consult on the opportunities of instituting an Intrapreneurship culture. RJ serves on the ELFA Board of Directors, Executive Committee and Investment Committee. He served previously on the Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee and Membership Committee. He is a dedicated supporter of the United Way of Washtenaw County.
Jeffry Elliott, CLFP
DirectorJeff 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 Financial Institutions Business Council Steering Committee, the National Funding Conference Planning Committee and the Advocacy Advisory Committee. He is the recipient of 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 an MBA from the Williams College of Business at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jeff is a Certified Lease Finance Professional (CLFP).
Katie Emmel
DirectorKatie is Chief Operating Officer at Solifi. Solifi is a global finance technology company serving banks, captives and independent finance companies for full lifecycle equipment finance, working capital, automotive, fleet and wholesale. Katie leads Solifi’s global professional services, support and customer success teams and has overall responsibility for the successful delivery of Solifi solutions to more than 300 customers in 30+ countries across six continents. Katie served as a Board Trustee for the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation from 2017-2022. She was a key contributor to the Foundation’s Research, Development and Nominating Committees. She has also served on ELFA’s Innovation Advisory Council and Operations & Technology Committee.
Randy Haug
DirectorRandy is the Executive Vice President, Vice Chairman and Co-Founder at LTi Technology Solutions and is an industry thought leader. He has been in equipment finance since 1989. Randy has served as a member of the ELFA Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Advocacy Advisory Committee, and was awarded the association’s 2021 David H. Fenig Distinguished Service in Advocacy Award. He also served on the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation Board of Trustees and as the Foundation’s Development Committee Chair. He is Past President of the National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) and is current Chair and Co-founder of the Chris Walker Education Committee of NEFA. Randy has contributed to these industry associations as an industry speaker and panelist: ELFA, ELFF, NEFA, Canadian Finance & Leasing Association (CFLA), Finance Leasing Association (FLA) in the UK and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
Mathew Iacobucci
DirectorMatt has been in the banking industry for 32 years, serving U.S. Bank and its predecessors. Currently, he is head of four business units of U.S. Bank Equipment Finance (USBEF), which comprise Bank Markets. Specifically, these units include Capital Equipment, Business Banking, Government Leasing & Finance and Indirect Originations & Syndication. In addition to those roles, he has held other positions within USBEF including regional sales leader, sales transactor and credit officer. Early in his career, he participated in a management training program exposing him to all key areas of the bank, with an emphasis on consumer and commercial credit underwriting. Matt is an active ELFA member and has served on the association’s Bank Business Council Steering Committee and LeasePAC Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati Lindner College of Business (BS-Finance). In 2014, he graduated from Pacific Coast Banking School.
Christopher Johnson
DirectorChristopher is President of Pitney Bowes Financial Services and has accountability for all aspects of the business including strategy, growth, operations, risk management, organizational development and financial results. Prior to joining Pitney Bowes in 2016, he was with Terex Financial Services, the General Electric company in both the GE Capital and Industrial segments, Lincoln Financial Group and Markowitz & McNaughton. Christopher graduated from Georgetown University and completed the executive professional development series at GE’s Jack Welch Crotonville Executive Leadership Institute. He serves on the ELFA Equity Committee and also participates on the Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee. In 2022, Savoy Magazine named him to the list of Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America.
Michelle Speranza, CLFP
DirectorMichelle is Chief Marketing Officer with LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of M&T Bank, where she directs the company’s nationwide omnichannel marketing, brand evolution and corporate communications strategies, as well as those of the other companies comprising the M&T Equipment Finance Group. Michelle is Chair of the ELFA Women’s Council, where she leads work supporting greater access and inclusion for women at all career stages. She is a former Chair of the ELFA Communications Committee and serves on the Monitor Daily Editorial Board. Michelle is a graduate of Gwynedd-Mercy College, attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Certified Lease & Finance Professional. Prior to joining LEAF in 2005, Michelle held marketing roles with the Walt Disney Company and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Stephen White
DirectorSteve is Co-Founder and Executive Vice President at Stonebriar Commercial Finance (SCF) and leads SCF’s Capital Markets and Indirect Originations activity. Previously, Steve was Senior Managing Director of Capital Markets at GE Capital, leading Global Capital Markets for GE Capital’s Equipment Finance and Leasing businesses. Steve has been active with ELFA and participated in numerous committees for over 35 years. He received his undergraduate degree from Towson University and his MBA from Loyola University.
2024 Officers
Rob Boyer, CLFP
Chair
Bob Neagle
Immediate Past Chair
James Cress
Chair-Elect
Deborah Baker
Vice Chair
Nathan Gibbons, CLFP
Vice Chair
RJ Grimshaw
Treasurer
Ed Rosen
Secretary
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