Certified Lease & Finance Professionals celebrated their CLFP designations with in-person celebrations and a virtual toast during CLFP Day on Aug. 24. The event is an annual celebration that takes place on the last Thursday of August.

As part of CLFP Day, the Certified Lease & Finance Professional Foundation named Nate Gibbons, chief experience officer at QuickFi by Innovation Finance USA, the winner of the 2023 Cindy Spurdle Award of Excellence.

The Cindy Spurdle Award of Excellence was created in 2012 to acknowledge the CLFP who has contributed the most to the equipment leasing industry and best represented CLFP ideals during the year.  Nominees are submitted by CLFP members and the final award candidate is voted upon by the entire CLFP Foundation’s board of directors.

“I am deeply honored and grateful. As a young man coming out of college, I sometimes wondered whether I belonged here. I’m thrilled to know that I’ve made a positive impact on the industry.” Gibbons said. “I’m aware of the caliber of prior recipients, so I don’t take this lightly. I am thankful for the countless individuals who have shaped who I am today and for being given opportunities to make a difference.”

Throughout his career in the equipment leasing and finance industry, Gibbons has prioritized supporting the continued development of others, relationships and client experiences. In his current role, Gibbons oversees the customer experience strategy at QuickFi, including modifying products and business models to dramatically improve the speed and simplicity of the finance experience.

“I’m sure the perceived significance of my contributions would vary widely depending on who you ask. Anything I can do to inspire and motivate others means a lot to me, whether it’s college students I speak to, industry colleagues, or my QuickFi teammates,” Gibbons said. “I am certainly proud to have worked alongside the impressive individuals who’ve helped make the global CLFP community what it is today. Who knows, perhaps the most significant contributions may come from the work our team at QuickFi is doing to bring positive change to commercial business lending.”

As a longtime CLFP and former member of the CLFP Foundation’s board of directions, Gibbons’ dedication and passion for professional development is ever-present.

“Certain humbling experiences in my career have helped me to realize that significance is less about titles and recognition, and more about the extent to which I could devote myself to helping others.” Gibbons said. “The process of earning the certification certainly made me more technically proficient. The credibility and professional opportunities following the certification have contributed to my professional growth well beyond the content in the CLFP textbook.”

In addition to the Cindy Spurdle Award of Excellence, the CLFP Foundation also presented its Lifetime Members Awards to Bob Humber, Paul Menzel and Russ Runnalls. This awards program was created in 2022 to honor those who have contributed significantly to the CLFP Foundation over the years and who remain involved throughout retirement. This year, the CLFP Foundation renamed the award the Larry LaChance Lifetime Member Award in honor of Larry LaChance, a longtime CLFP and CFLP Foundation board member, who passed away earlier this year. Nominees were submitted by CLFP Foundation board members and then voted on by the entire board.