Monitor Women’s List 2019: Lynn Alstad

by By Monitor Staff Nov/Dec 2019

LynnLynn+Alstad+-+Capella+Equipment+Finance.jpg Alstad

President and CEO
Capella Equipment Finance

 

 

 


VISION FOR THE FUTURE:

“Among the world’s largest 500 companies, only 10% of senior executives are women, yet diversity helps make companies more profitable and innovative. My hope for the future of our industry is that these facts are recognized and real change is embraced. Future generations of women are counting on it.”

Lynn Alstad, president and CEO of Capella Equipment Finance, has 34 years’ experience in the leasing industry. She has held various positions throughout her career, including direct and indirect sales, syndication, pricing, contract negotiations and team leader of sales and operations. Today, Alstad is responsible for all day to day operations and facilitation of financing transactions for large, investment grade credits to mid-size commercial accounts with a concentration in corporate supplier diversity initiatives.

After over three decades in the leasing industry, Alstad wanted to bring her years of experience, expertise and knowledge of customer needs to create a unique value proposition. With this in mind, she started Capella, a full service equipment leasing and asset management company providing financing solutions to corporations for CAPEX acquisitions of up to $50 million.

“Starting a company was something that I thought about for a very long time. There was always something stopping me. At one point, my children were young, and I couldn’t take a chance financially,” she says. “At another point, I was ‘fine’ where I was. But at some point in our career, we all have to ask ourselves ‘is this enough?’ So, I closed my eyes, took a leap of faith and here I am today.”

As a Six Sigma Black Belt, Alstad also wanted to have control over the operations of an organization. Working in all aspects of sales and operations throughout her career, she knew process mapping was imperative to the success of an organization and has worked to ensure Capella has it in place.

“Lynn has been a trusted partner and industry colleague of mine for the last 16 years, and there are many words that I could use to describe her. She is smart, kind, knowledgeable and tireless, but more than anything, the best word to describe her is ‘positive,’ says Rebecca Ricci, vice president, syndications, capital markets at DLL. “She and I have worked on dozens of deals together over the years, and in all those years, she has never once let me down. As a business associate, I appreciate our working relationship and as a friend, I’m so very happy she is getting the kind of recognition she deserves.”

Outside the industry, Alstad is an avid supporter of the Grace Institute, one of only three workforce development programs in New York City focused solely on women.

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