Justine Cook
During Justine’s tenure at CIT she has experience working in all aspects of the lease life cycle: residual setting, originations, collections and end of term servicing. Justine has also successfully worked the portfolio on due diligences, portfolio conversions (including international) and technology initiatives. A lot of focus was spent working closely with sales as new programs are onboarded to ensure proper servicing requirements. As new applications and enhancements are rolled out to support existing and new businesses Justine works to practice transformational change with the improvements. Most recently Justine was promoted from VP of Asset Management to a Director of Operations.
Veteran support is a passion of Justine’s and she is National Advocacy lead for the Be You Veterans employee resource group. Away from work Justine enjoys spending time at the beach with her family. Her two boys keep her busy fishing, boating, surfing and watching lacrosse tournaments.
Valerie King
I grew up in Boise, Idaho, and my high school class consisted of 13 people. 40% of the school came from countries around the world. I earned an international baccalaureate degree and knew from the age of 12 I wanted to go to school in Boston. My younger brother went the opposite route—he headed to Portland, OR. I went to Wellesley College (right outside of Boston—close enough) and majored in theatre studies and anthropology. I was the president of the Shakespeare Society and I directed three plays in college; I acted in/produced/sound designed for maybe 25 more. I have lived in Idaho, Boston, New York City, Jamaica, St. Louis, Chicago, and San Francisco. I ended up in Philadelphia and this is my third stint living here—I just can’t stay away. I bought a house here—now I also can’t move away. I have a tech background and I’ve done some political campaigning. I’ve always been sales or sales-adjacent, but my passion is coaching. My husband is from Germany and my dog is from Kensington. He is a pug-cocker spaniel who is very lazy and very funny. I am childfree by choice. I am the Demand Gen/SDR Manager at Marlin Capital Solutions. I like people who are funny, intelligent, and generous. All day, I seek to laugh, make other people laugh, and shine a flashlight through the dark tunnel of one person’s career. I’m excited to work with you all.
Rich Irwin
Richard Irwin is SVP and Chief Financial Officer at Marlin. Mr. Irwin is responsible for overseeing the company’s Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis, Tax, and Treasury teams. Mr. Irwin joined Marlin as Treasurer, relaunching the Term ABS program after an 8-year hiatus, streamlining the syndicated secondary marketing process, assisting in M&A and due diligence activities, as well as overseeing the company’s general pricing strategy. Prior to joining Marlin in 2016, Mr. Irwin spent over 19 years at CIT Group Inc., holding various positions in Corporate Accounting, Treasury Risk Management, Funding, and Mergers & Acquisitions. During his time at CIT, Mr. Irwin was responsible for certain fundings of the US and Canadian Vendor Finance, US Factored Receivable, and the Global Aerospace and Rail portfolios as well as analyzing over 75 M&A transactions including the US acquisition of Direct Capital and CIT’s divestitures in Asia, Europe, and South America. Mr. Irwin earned a BS in Finance and an MBA from Rutgers University, earned the Certified Treasury Professional designation, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Tara Berlingo
Tara has 15 plus years of HR experience, six of which have been spent at Peoples United Bank. She has supported a variety of different groups including corporate, sales, engineering and service across a variety of industries. She has been involved with 10 mergers and acquisitions throughout her career. Tara also has had the opportunity to manage, mentor and coach numerous people throughout her career. She served on the board of the western branch of the Society for Human Resources Management from 2006-2011 in the position of Chair of Student Affairs and Co-Chair of Community Affairs. She has a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing from Manhatanville College and an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from Salve Regina University. She also holds certificates in Mediation as well as Dale Carnegie. Tara currently lives in Stamford, Connecticut and works out of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Jaymi Sander
I grew up in a small rural community in mid Missouri and have always been very involved in athletics. After High School I played division II basketball while completing my Bachelor of Science in Sports Management with an emphasis on business. I started my career in the proprietary education sector. I began working for the admissions office, from there became the Director of Admissions, and eventually had the opportunity to move back to my hometown and be the Director of a school locally. I eventually realized I was looking for a career change that would allow me to use the skills I had developed, while gaining additional knowledge that could help me achieve personal and professional goals. I started my journey in the Leasing and Finance industry in early 2012 with LEAF Commercial Capital. LEAF has created an environment where colleagues truly feel like family, and I am proud to be a part of the organization. I began my journey in the technology sales sector, transitioned into the office products sales division, and most recently helped the company to leverage a business unit in the diversified equipment space. I am currently the Director of Sales for Diversified Vendor Markets and looking forward to continue providing growth opportunities for my company and employees.
Tim Egan
My name is Tim Egan and I am from New Jersey. I work full time as Vice President of Compliance and Operations at a bank owned finance company in New York City. We finance laundromats, car washes, grocery stores, tow trucks and more. I have been in equipment finance for 15 years, which began documenting loans at a different bank owned finance company, where I landed after the military. I am a single parent of 4 kids between the ages of 11 & 19. I have half an MBA but don’t plan on going back to finish it up. I enjoy reading fiction and writing music. Happy to meet you.
Matt Diehl
I wear many hats at LEAF - which makes my role fun and exciting. I work closely with LEAF’s multiple business lines, shared services, parent organization, and external partners to serve our customers and advance our mission. My wife and I live in New Jersey with our two young children and feisty terrier. I was previously an entrepreneur, which led me to develop a passion for business strategy and creating unique growth opportunities.
Jake Nguyen
Seasoned credit risk professional with over 10 years of experience in the equipment finance industry with proven record of developing high performance teams in a banking regulated environment, specialize in bridging internal and external partners to achieve desire outcome on small and middle ticket transactions.
Nicole White
Nicole White is a Director in Sales Operations at CIT Bank, a Division of First Citizens Bank & Trust Company. She has responsibility for Indirect Deal closings for Equipment Finance and oversees all Syndication closing activities for CIT’s small-ticket & mid-ticket transactions. This includes program management, deal structuring and booking. In her role she is further responsible for control management activities which cover quality assurance reviews, policies and procedures implementation, coordination with internal and external auditors, as well as providing onboarding support for new relationships and products.
Nicole has over 5 years of experience in the Commercial Leasing industry and has played an integral role in large portfolio acquisitions as well as Business Capital control projects. She joined CIT in May 2016.
She received a BS degree in Finance from the University of Florida – Warrington College of Business. Outside of work Nicole enjoys going to the beach and taking her two dogs on local trails.
Erin Smith
Erin has 15+ years managing office buildouts and corporate events for mid-sized to large international organizations. Working with multiple internal and external stakeholders to ensure goals exceed expectations.
Lilia Romero
I have been in the finance industry for 16 years with more than 10 years focusing on title operations. I joined Dakota in 2016 as a “Customer Service/Title Analyst”. During my time at Dakota, I have held different roles, such as Lease Coordinator, Asset Management and more recently as the Title Department Manager. I helped Dakota create our title department and grow from a 1-person department to a 7-person department. I live in Los Angeles and when I’m not keeping busy with work, I spend my time with family and friends.
Brian Dundon
Brian Dundon joined First Financial in 2013 and currently serves as Senior Vice President. In this role, he oversees First Financial's credit, syndication, and portfolio management activities, with the ultimate goal of empowering First Financial and his colleagues to make well-informed, forward-thinking business decisions that will bring long-term benefit to its customers. Brian was drawn to leasing and finance after the Great Recession in 2008 and has since dedicated his 10+ year career to being a facilitator for smart, responsible business. Prior to joining First Financial, he was the Senior Credit Analyst for CHG-MERIDIAN’s U.S. operations, joining shortly after its founding in 2009.
Brian holds a B.A. in Economics from Wheaton College in Massachusetts. When not at work, he can be found baking artisan bread with his wife and daughter and finding new and creative ways to use CSA produce.
Ana Lage
My name is Ana Lage, I have been in the finance industry for 23 years. I am currently the AVP Documentation Manager at Eastern Funding LLC where I have been employed for almost 10 years. In addition to managing the documentation department I also focus on improving workflows and creating enhancements in originations. I am a critical member of the conversion team that successfully converted Eastern Funding’s enterprise platform. I am very enthusiastic about operational excellence passionate about my team’s growth and continuous improvement. Finally, I also chair 3 very active employee focused committees.