FOUNDATION NEWS By Chelsea Neil Foundation Looks Forward to 2016 with Excitement of the equipment leasing and fi nance industry, the Foundation is fi nishing the year in a strong position. Th roughout 2015 we released 19 new industry publications and will release the 2016 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook in December. We are grateful for a record-breaking fundraising campaign with generous donations totaling over $660,000 to support the development of our research and resources. And our dedicated volunteers who make it all happen are some of the brightest minds in the business. Every year the Foundation estab-lishes its forward-looking research agenda based on ideas generated through our Research Committee. This team of industry professionals works to develop and assess critical topics to meet the needs of our dy-namic audience. Th e resulting research is used by our internal and external audiences for strategic business plan-ning, marketing, operational improve-ments, adoption of new technologies and much more! Our recent studies on alternative fi nance, digital documents and securitization are some of the most downloaded reports in our his-tory. We appreciate your valuable par-ticipation in our surveys and welcome your ideas for new topics to explore. Our current and future projects are possible because of the incredible ef-forts of our development team and the wonderful fi nancial support from our community of contributors. Th e 2015 fundraising campaign set a new record and with it comes new responsibilities to deploy those funds for the better-ment of the industry. Th e Board of Trustees met in No-vember in Washington, D.C., to elect 2016 offi cers, approve the 2016 budget and set the programming plans. Guid-ed by strong leadership, expertise and dedication, the Foundation strives to continue to be “Your Eye on the Future.” W New Research, New Board! ITH AN EXPANDED MISSION to inspire thoughtful innovation and contribute to the betterment 2016 Equipment Leasing & U.S. Economic Finance Outlook We are pleased to announce the list of 2016 Trustees: William Verhelle , Harvard Partners, LLC ( Chairman ) Matthew LeSage , GE Capital, Equipment Finance (Vice Chairman) Richard Gumbrecht , Everbank Commercial Finance, Inc. ( Immediate Past Chairman ) Richard Doherty , PNC Equipment Finance, LLC ( Treasurer ) William G. Sutton, CAE, ELFA ( President ) ( Until 12/31/2015 ) * Ralph Petta , ELFA ( President ) ( Eff ective 1/1/2016 ) Paul Stilp , ELFA ( Secretary ) Kelli Nienaber , Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation ( Executive Director ) Vince Belcastro , Santander Bank Steven Byrnes , Capgemini Financial Services USA, Inc. Je ry Elliott , Huntington Asset Finance Edward Gross , Vedder Price P.C. Randy Haug , LeaseTeam, Inc. Valerie Jester , Brandywine Capital Associates, Inc. James Johnson, PhD, Northern Illinois University Cameron Krueger , Deloitte * Bonnie Michael , U.S. Volvo Financial Services Robert Neagle , First Nationwide Payments James Schallheim, PhD, University of Utah * Gordon Scott , CDK Financing Solutions * Jud Snyder , BMO Harris Equipment Finance * Scott acker , Ivory Consulting Corporation * New Trustees For more information about the Foundation, please visit our website, www.LeaseFoundation.org . ■ 2015 Chairman Rich Gumbrecht and Executive Director Kelli Nienaber honored outgoing Trustees for their service. Pictured L-R: Chris Acevedo, Aylin Cankardes, Gumbrecht, Woody Sutton, Nienaber, Tony Cracchiolo and Bob Wax. Chelsea Neil is Program Assistant for the Foundation. 42 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE