Karen Tennant has been in the equipment finance industry for more than 30 years. She has led risk management for a number of prominent equipment finance companies; in each case, she has not only risen to leadership roles herself, but has helped develop others and elevate their roles as well.
Tennant began her career with GE Capital as a secretary. She was a direct report of GE’s collections manager at the time, who believed in the old adage, “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.” He was instrumental in Tennant’s learning and development throughout her GE Capital tenure.
Soon, Tennant transferred to GE’s documentation department, where she learned how loans and leases originated. She quickly realized that she enjoyed the litigation and workout of loans and would continue along this path at Santander Bank (formerly known as Sovereign Bank) for more than 15 years.
Eight years ago, Tennant joined Eastern Funding to lead the company’s risk group. Her efforts to build out the department at the same time Eastern Funding was experiencing rapid growth was challenging, Tennant says, and she takes great pride in the hard work she dedicated to completing this project.
Another highlight of Tennant’s tenure at Eastern Funding came during the pandemic; the entire team provided their customers relief during the unprecedented times by deferring payments or offering interest-only payments for a number of months. To this day, she is appreciative and proud of Eastern Funding’s response to the community. She believes that she, alongside the rest of the Eastern Funding team, assisted in saving hundreds of businesses from shutting their doors. “It’s been an honor speaking with customers and seeing how their businesses are now thriving,” Tennant says. “Their gratitude and grace made the 12-hour days worth it.”
Over the past year, Tennant partnered with David Miles, director of credit for Eastern Funding, to develop and launch a new workout module in its nCino system, which was originally only used for loan originations. This module leverages an API with jXchange to enhance reporting with data from the loan servicing system. It also captures previously unreported data and allows workout officers to better manage their backlog and communication on workout loans.
“Karen adds tremendous value to the equipment leasing and finance industry in so many ways,” Jennifer Ng, general counsel of Eastern Funding, says. “Her decades-long experience brings unique, in-depth, creative, results-driven solutions when managing the risk portfolio, all while still balancing the needs of a customer-centric industry. Karen’s tenacity in negotiating accounts through workouts, settlements and legal processes is not only results-driven, but is second to none.”
Throughout her career, Tennant has taken advantage of many great opportunities, and she has never said “no” to a project. She credits her successes to embracing change, leading by example, collaborating and having a powerhouse team to support her. She is intentional about providing her team with the same level of support, placing each of them in positions that foster growth and success. She empowers her team with the tools they need to carry out Eastern Funding’s asset management and workout functions. She also encourages her team members to be active in industry organizations.
In her free time, Tennant enjoys playing with her grandsons, Landon and Jack, and face-timing with her granddaughter, Ellie. •
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