Our Team
Bill Verhelle | Chief Executive Officer
Bill founded First American Equipment Finance, Harvard Partners, LLC and Innovation Finance USA LLC.
In 20 years as CEO of First American, the company received numerous awards, including being recognized eight times on the prestigious Inc 500/5000 listing, being recognized by Fortune Magazine in 2012 as one of the twenty best workplaces in financial services in the US, and being recognized repeatedly by the Best Companies Group as the best place to work in New York State (#1 in 2012).
Bill earned a BA from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a Doctor of Laws (JD) from Cornell Law School and is a member of the New York Bar Association. Bill is past Chairman of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) in Washington, D.C. and past Chairman of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation.
Bill Verhelle | Chief Executive Officer
As founder of First American Equipment Finance and Harvard Partners, LLC, Bill is an entrepreneur and industry thought leader. In 20 years as CEO of First American, the company received numerous awards, including being recognized eight times on the prestigious Inc 500/5000 listing, being recognized by Fortune Magazine in 2012 as one of the twenty best workplaces in financial services in the US, and being recognized repeatedly by the Best Companies Group as the best place to work in New York State (#1 in 2012).
Bill earned a BA from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a Doctor of Laws (JD) from Cornell Law School and is a member of the New York Bar Association. Bill is past Chairman of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) in Washington, D.C. and past Chairman of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation.
Chief Executive Officer
Mark Tomaselli | President
As President and CTO of Innovation Finance, Mark is responsible for all aspects of product development, QuickFi Platform strategy, and QuickFi mobile app engineering.
Prior to joining Innovation Finance, Mark served as CIO at First American Equipment Finance. He guided the company's technology vision, strategy and execution. Mark is a recognized leader in creating exceptional client experience through the use of progressive technology.
Mark has held senior management positions with Fortune 500 companies, including Sun Microsystems and Frontier Communications. Mark’s insights are sought in both finance and technology. He frequently presents to organizations like Box, Salesforce, Okta, and the ELFA. Mark holds a BS in Information Technology and is an active Box Digital Advisory Board member.
Mark Tomaselli | President
Mark served as CIO at First American Equipment Finance, guiding the company's technology vision, strategy and execution. Mark is a recognized leader in creating exceptional client experience through the use of progressive technology. In 2011, First American was awarded the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) Operations & Technology award. Mark also received First American’s Chairman’s Award, the Company’s highest honor.
Mark also held senior management positions with Fortune 500 companies, including Sun Microsystems and Frontier Communications. Mark’s insights are sought in both finance and technology. He frequently presents to organizations like Box, Salesforce, Okta and the EFLA. Mark holds a BS in Information Technology and is an active Box Digital Advisory Board member.
President
Mike Ziegelmann | Chief Financial Officer
Mike Ziegelmann | Chief Financial Officer
Mike served as CFO of First American Equipment Finance from 2001 until 2008, when he became First American’s Chief Credit Officer. Mike served as Chief Credit Officer of First American until 2018, when he joined Innovation Finance.
As Frist American’s Chief Credit Officer, Mike developed and implemented the company’s highly successful credit policies, resulting in company-wide, cumulative net charge offs of less than 1% over nearly a full decade. Mike continued to serve as Chief Credit Officer and directed and managed the firm’s transition into the bank credit underwriting system, following First American’s acquisition by City National Bank / Royal Bank of Canada in 2012. Mike also received First American’s Chairman’s Award in 2014, the Company’s highest honor.
As CFO of Innovation Finance, Mike sets financial and credit strategy and builds the relationships and processes needed for sound, scalable lending practices. Mike started his career in 1992 in public accounting and worked at Rehmann, a top regional firm. A key member of Innovation Finance leadership, Mike is a member of the AICPA, and is actively involved in the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, including previously serving on the ELFA Accounting Committee and on the ELFA CFO Roundtable.
Chief Financial Officer
Nate Gibbons | Chief Operating Officer
Nate Gibbons | Chief Operating Officer
Nate served as Vice President at First American Equipment Finance where he helped develop and manage the company’s learning and professional development strategy. During his tenure, the company was recognized as one of Fortune Magazine’s 20 Great Workplaces in Financial Services, and 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials. Previously, Nate served as an officer in First American’s credit and documentation department.
Nate has a passion for motivating people and helping them reach their potential. He served as Chair of the Emerging Talent Advisory Council for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) in Washington, DC. Nate also serves on the Board of Directors for the Certified Lease & Finance Professional Foundation. He has an MBA from the University of Rochester – Simon Business School and a BA in Spanish from the University of Rochester. Nate received First American’s Chairman’s Award, the Company’s highest honor.
Chief Operating Officer
Aditya Pawar | Vice President Data Science
As the resident Vice President of Data Science, Aditya facilitates credit decisioning at Innovation Finance. Aditya enjoys interacting with large datasets and transforming information into insights. He is on a mission to build and improve the credit decisioning process by leveraging the Data Capital embedded in the digital footprint of an organization and formulating AI driven credit decisioning algorithms. His prior professional experience has largely been around financial services with a couple of stints at a CRM enterprise and an ed-tech startup. He has worked with clients in various geographies including US, UK, India, and MENA region.
Aditya holds a Master’s degree in Computational Finance from Rochester Institute of Technology along with an MBA in Capital Markets from NMIMS, Mumbai, India.
Aditya Pawar | Vice President Data Science
As the resident Vice President of Data Science, Aditya facilitates credit decisioning at Innovation Finance. Aditya enjoys interacting with large datasets and transforming information into insights. He is on a mission to build and improve the credit decisioning process by leveraging the Data Capital embedded in the digital footprint of an organization and formulating AI driven credit decisioning algorithms. His prior professional experience has largely been around financial services with a couple of stints at a CRM enterprise and an ed-tech startup. He has worked with clients in various geographies including US, UK, India, and MENA region.
Aditya holds a Master’s degree in Computational Finance from Rochester Institute of Technology along with an MBA in Capital Markets from NMIMS, Mumbai, India.
Vice President Data Science
Jillian Munson | QuickFi Product Manager
As QuickFi Product Manager, Jillian manages the output of Innovation Finance's top technology providers and software developers to keep production running smoothly. She bridges the gap between utilizing the most advanced mobile-app technologies and providing a streamlined user-app experience. Jillian develops QuickFi processes for the app's external end-users as well as for internal business system automations. Jillian also coordinates industry events to gather insights from app-user testing and to collect feedback on the QuickFi Platform.
Jillian is a recent graduate of SUNY Oswego. She earned her degree in Computer and Information Science with a minor in Digital Humanities.
While at Oswego, Jillian attained leadership and board positions for multiple school organizations including the Women in Computing Club, the Computer Science Club, and Greek Council.
Jillian Munson | QuickFi Product Manager
As QuickFi Product Manager, Jillian manages the output of Innovation Finance's top technology providers and software developers to keep production running smoothly. She bridges the gap between utilizing the most advanced mobile-app technologies and providing a streamlined user-app experience. Jillian develops QuickFi processes for the app's external end-users as well as for internal business system automations. Jillian also coordinates industry events to gather insights from app-user testing and to collect feedback on the QuickFi Platform.
Jillian is a recent graduate of SUNY Oswego. She earned her degree in Computer and Information Science with a minor in Digital Humanities.
While at Oswego, Jillian attained leadership and board positions for multiple school organizations including the Women in Computing Club, the Computer Science Club, and Greek Council.
QuickFi Product Manager
Ben Staffan | Mobile Software Engineer
As Software Engineer, Ben helped design, code, and publish QuickFi to both iOS and Android app stores. Ben is committed to driving development through user testing and implementing customer feedback. In doing so, he focuses on streamlining user experience and app security.
Ben earned his degree in Computer Science from SUNY University at Buffalo.
Ben Staffan | Mobile Software Engineer
As Innovation Finance’s Mobile Software Engineer, Ben helps continuously design and push the development of the QuickFi mobile app by intelligently and systematically implementing customer feedback. Ben is laser-focused on streamlining the user experience and maintaining application security. Ben earned his degree in Computer Science from SUNY University at Buffalo.
Mobile Software Engineer
Joe Vu | Digital Marketing Manager
As Digital Marketing Manager, Joe implements best practices in the digital marketing space. Utilizing marketing technology and creativity, Joe brings nearly 10 years of experience to build out unique, engaging customer journeys.
Prior to joining Innovation Finance, Joe was heavily involved with the digital transformation strategy at a global dental manufacturer.
Joe Vu | Digital Marketing Manager
As Digital Marketing Manager, Joe implements best practices in the digital marketing space. Utilizing marketing technology and creativity, Joe brings nearly 10 years of experience to build out unique, engaging customer journeys.
Prior to joining Innovation Finance, Joe was heavily involved with the digital transformation strategy at a global dental manufacturer.
Digital Marketing Manager
Michael Leo | Data & Finance Specialist
Mike is our data and finance specialist and he works closely with our team on the credit decisioning process and data insight. Mike studied accounting at Syracuse University and is currently pursuing his Master of Accounting at the University of Georgia.
Michael Leo | Data & Finance Specialist
Mike is our data and finance intern and he works closely with our team on the credit decisioning process and data insight. Mike studied accounting at Syracuse University and is currently pursuing his Master of Accounting at the University of Georgia.
Data & Finance Specialist
