MEMBER SPOTLIGHT ELFA’s New Chair Shares His Vision for Diversity and Growth William F. “Bill” Stephenson brings decades of industry experience to ELFA and has bold ideas for the future By Gwen Moran T HE YEAR-LONG TENURE of an ELFA Chairman doesn’t typically have a theme. However, when you ask William F. “Bill” Stephenson about his vision as he takes on the role, two themes come to mind: diversity and value creation. Stephenson has over 25 years of experience in vendor fi-nance and, since 2014, has served as CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board at DLL, an international financial solu-tions provider that operates in nine industries. He assumed the association’s chairmanship following the ELFA Annual Convention in 2015. When asked about his vision for the or-ganization, Stephenson says he plans to execute against the ELFA strategic plan and focus on the following two key initia-tives over the next 12 months. Members will see a renewed commitment to infusing the organization with diverse talent that will evolve ELFA to new levels of excellence. He will also work to ensure that ELFA continues to be a strong player in the industry by leveraging the ELFA brand and proven leader-ship for organizational growth and value creation for its members. “We have a responsibility to make sure we are engaging our members in a way that will pave the path for the future success of ELFA,” he says. “We must be the catalyst for change.” Stephenson brings a wealth of in-dustry experience to his role as Chair-man. Since joining DLL in 1987, he has held several leadership positions Former Chairman Bob Rinaldi passes the within the company and played an in-leadership torch to Stephenson at the ELFA tegral role in the emergence of DLL as Annual Convention a global market leader within the ven-dor finance and equipment leasing industry. Most recently, Stephenson was DLL’s Chief Commercial Officer and a mem-ber of the Executive Board. In that role he was responsible for the overall activities of the global vendor finance business, which includes offices in more than 35 countries within Eu-rope, the Americas, Asia and Australia. ELFA’s new Chairman says one of the key benefits of the association’s governance structure is that it allows the incom-ing Chairman to participate, observe and be engaged in the strategic direction over a period of years prior to becoming the 12 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE Chair. As each Chairman assumes the post, plans for change are backed by years of involvement in the organization and the institutional knowledge of what has worked and what is continuing to evolve. Stephenson also serves on ELFA’s Execu-tive and Personnel Committees. He is a former member of ELFA’s Small Ticket Business Council Steering Committee, Audit Committee and Investment Committee, as well as the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Leveraging Diversity to Advance the Industry Stephenson’s vision to infuse diversity into the fabric of ELFA is rooted in his own experiences at DLL. “By cultivating a more diverse workforce, you fundamentally strengthen your team,” he says. “When you have gender, cultural, racial, eth-nic, age and other forms of diversity in any organization, it gives you an infinitely more dynamic approach to solving problems and creating success. Diversity has made me a bet-ter CEO; it’s allowed me to make decisions based on informa-tion and perspectives I may not have otherwise considered.” To get there, Stephenson plans to support the Emerging Talent Advisory Council, the Guest Lecture Program and the network of women, all of which he believes are important tools for recruitment. In addition, he says ELFA members will need to focus on recruiting talent that reflects the world to-day. He says having member CEOs do more speaking engage-ments and conduct more focused recruitment on campuses with business schools are good ways to raise awareness of the rich career opportunities that the industry can provide. Association members will also need to drive diversity initiatives within their own organizations and work toward recruiting a wider range of candidates, says Stephenson, who coaches and mentors 16 young professionals within his organization, helping them navigate their career paths. He notes that this sort of attention helps retain people in his company and in the industry. “Our industry is the No. 1 provider of financing in the entire world, yet it’s the least known industry or career path out there,” he says. “Our advocacy, concerted efforts and fo-cus will change that.”