Monitor W – Women for Women: Honest Conversations, Part 3

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Women for Women: Honest Conversations – Part 3

Monitor Suite will unveil W, a Monitor Women series focused on women in equipment finance, with a three-part Member Live+ series. In this three-part livestream moderated by Monitor Publisher Lisa Rafter, NextGen women will lead a Q&A with trailblazing women of equipment finance that will explore the truth of their experiences. Designed to create conversations that will benefit everyone in the industry, the livestream series will explore many topics, including:

  • How could the industry benefit from having more women in leadership roles?
  • How can we make leadership more attractive and accessible to women?
  • What does it take for women to achieve and maintain a seat at the table?
  • How have trailblazing women overcome adversity in their careers?
  • What are the best ways for women to support each other?
  • What can male colleagues do to become strong allies for women?
  • How can veterans and women who are newer to the industry learn from each other?
  • Work-life integration: Can it exist?

Panelist:

Ellen Comeaux

SVP and Commercial Division Leader, TIAA Bank

Ellen Comeaux currently serves as senior vice president and commercial division leader for TIAA Bank, where she leads the vendor equipment finance and commercial real estate businesses. Prior to joining TIAA Bank, Comeaux enjoyed more than 24 years of service with Fortune 500 company GE under GE Capital and GE Real Estate.

As a member of TIAA Bank’s senior leadership team, Comeaux has a very diverse commercial lending background. She has significant experience in commercial banking and lending, strategic planning and development, cross-functional team leadership, marketing, credit underwriting, and is a certified Six Sigma Process Improvement Master Black Belt.

An advocate of diversity and developing the next generation of talent, Comeaux is part of internal groups that develop leaders, including programs that help spur professional development for women, entry and seasoned professionals and the LGBTQ community.


Panelist:

Barbara Griffith

President and Founder, SCL Equipment Finance

Barbara Griffith established SCL Equipment Finance, a division of Southern California Leasing, in 1992. Throughout her career, she has originated millions of dollars in equipment financing. This steady growth has continued due to her strong belief in professional work ethics, her company’s reputation and the successful customer relationships that she feels are the most important factors in a business.


Panelist:

Jill McKean-Bilby

President, BOK Financial

Jill McKean-Bilby has been employed with BOK Financial Equipment Finance since February 2018 and has been in the commercial finance industry since 2000, holding various roles across multiple disciplines, including a leadership development program, risk, operations, asset management, various management roles and business development/sales.

As a sales professional for more than 20 years, McKean-Bilby knows how important it is to maintain great relationships with customers, both internally and externally. She has received several awards for being a top sales professional.

McKean-Bilby also understands the need to provide leadership to a team while developing members into greater professionals in order to produce growth results for a business. She has had a variety of management and sales experiences, including selling actual collateral, selling financing and payments, selling ideas, as well as retail experience. She excels at working with internal colleagues in order to problem solve and win relationships and has extensive experience in creating and streamlining processes, thriving in positive, high energy and competitive work environments. McKean-Bilby is also always willing to learn new skill sets while assisting with the development of others and exceeding customer expectations.


Panelist:

Eileen Schoonmaker

U.S. President and General Manager, DLL

Eileen Schoonmaker is U.S. president and general manager for DLL Financial Services. She is responsible for overseeing the operations and business for the healthcare, clean tech, tech solutions, advanced solution, office equipment and commercial finance business units.

Schoonmaker is a human-centric, transformational leader and respected industry expert with more than 35 years of experience in vendor finance. Since joining DLL in 2000, she has held multiple senior leadership roles, including senior vice president of operations, senior vice president and manager of business information and U.S. chief operating officer.  Eileen was the first DLL U.S. country manager with P&L responsibility for a $10 billion portfolio.


Panelist:

Marci L. Slagle

President, Bank Financial

An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Marci L. Slagle is president of Bank Financial. Slagle is active in multiple industry associations, serving as immediate past president for the CLFP Foundation, as well as on the membership committee for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and on the ELFA’s Women’s Council. She has also served as a member of the ELFA’s Middle Market Steering Committee, as the conference chair for NAELB (now the American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers) and on the board for the National Equipment Finance Association and WAEL. She is also a current member of the ELFA, the NEFA and the AACFB. Slagle additionally donates significant time and effort working with or serving on the boards, panels and committees for these associations to promote the industry as a whole.


Q&A Leader:

Xiang Ji, CFA

Commercial Risk Senior Manager, Toyota Industries Commercial Finance

Xiang Ji, CFA and commercial risk senior manager at Toyota, is a dedicated professional with management consulting experiences in top global consulting firms. Xiang has extensive experience in risk management, quantitative and qualitative financial analysis, credit risk modeling, and the valuation of complex financial products within the banking industry. Xiang is also a Women Empowerment Program facilitator and program translator. Xiang facilitates financial empowerment programs to help members become self-sufficient through sharing knowledge of financial planning, budgeting, credit, tax and investment. Xiang also translates program materials into Chinese which enables WiNGS to provide services to a new demographic group.


Q&A Leader:

Camtu Vo

Manager of Digital Strategy and Production Development, DLL

Camtu Vo, digital strategy manager and production development at DLL, has been recognized by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association as a member of the 2022 Emerging Talent Advisory Council. Camtu is also an active volunteer for the ELFA. During her five years at DLL, Camtu has grown within the company attending her first ELFA Convention this year.


Moderator:

Lisa Rafter
Publisher, Monitor

Lisa Rafter has been in the equipment leasing and specialty finance industries for more than 30 years, most notably as publisher of Monitor Magazine, ABF Journal, IFA’s Commercial Factor magazine and NACLB’s DealMaker Magazine. Rafter is also CEO of Molloy Associates. Molloy is a boutique executive recruitment firm focused on the equipment finance and asset-based lending industries. In addition, Rafter is founder and CEO of Stripes Leadership Program, a program designed to develop the leaders of tomorrow’s equipment finance industry.

As the former editor and current publisher of the aforementioned publications, Rafter was instrumental in the creation of many ground-breaking products such as the Monitor 100, the annual ranking of the top 100 equipment finance companies, monitordaily.com, the industry’s first website and daily e-news blast, World Leasing News, the industry’s first online magazine and ABF Journal, the asset-based lending industry’s first independent publication.

Rafter’s commitment to high performance doesn’t stop at the workplace. She is also involved in numerous community-building projects and services. Rafter delights in giving a voice to the unheard and, through various leadership roles, strives to provide people with the tools and distinctions to live an extraordinary life. With this commitment, Rafter has served on the boards of non-profit organizations and also has volunteered for many community organizations dedicated to serving at-risk populations. Currently, Rafter is on the board of MAGIC Charities and serves as the chair for the Adoption & Foster Care Committee.