Jennifer Villa Tennity

President, Aviation Lending, CIT Group

Biography:

Jennifer Villa Tennity serves as president of CIT’s Aviation Lending business, which provides aircraft-backed loans for the commercial aviation industry by lending to hedge funds, private equity participants and lessors, as well as directly to airlines.

Jennifer rejoined CIT to lead Aviation Lending in September 2017 when CIT announced the expansion of its commercial aircraft lending business. In her new role, she is responsible for leading her team, working closely with clients and using her deep industry expertise to tailor lending solutions that successfully meet borrower needs.

During her previous tenure at CIT, Jennifer most recently served as senior vice president and chief risk officer for CIT’s aerospace business, overseeing an $11 billion portfolio of aircraft loans and leases. She handled a myriad of duties both within and outside the Risk organization, including regulatory matters during CIT’s transition to a bank, its first new aircraft orders with Boeing, Airbus and Embraer and various other strategic initiatives. Having joined the firm in 1998, Jennifer also led the company’s restructuring efforts with multiple airlines in the post-9/11 period.

Jennifer earned a degree in economics and a certificate in political economics from Princeton University.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. Traditionally, there has been a meaningful lack of women in the field of aviation and, especially, aviation finance. Indeed, not long ago only a handful of women would attend the annual conference of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT), the leading industry trade group. Today, women in attendance number in the hundreds. Even so, only three female panelists were among the speakers at this year’s week-long event. So the change needs to continue, the progress is far from done and women need to be put in positions where they can be heard as industry leaders. My advice to women just starting out in this industry, in particular, is to network, network, network. Meet as many people as you can, get to know them, let them get to know you and don’t ever waver in that endeavor. I am fortunate that many of the young women I met at the outset of my career are now also in top positions and, together, we can drive change and mentor the younger women just coming onboard.

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career?

Like many women, I fear I may have been timid in the early days of my career regarding advancement and compensation. Knowing what I know now, I would certainly have pushed harder for what I deserved and I would have made sure I was being treated fairly and equitably compared to peers. In like manner, I would have pushed harder to be a leading voice externally at industry events and the like.

What kind of role has mentoring and/or sponsorship played in your career?

Because of the lack of women in my industry, I have made it a point to meet and help young women entering aviation and finance. I try to be an example of a woman as a business leader and not just in a sup- port role, that we can run companies and divisions and have important managerial roles. Unfortunately, I was not exposed to that early in my career due to a severe lack of women in leadership positions. I am encouraged to see that being upended in both aviation and finance now. Indeed, the CEO of my company, CIT Group, is a woman who has had a very distinguished and impressive career in banking and she remains a major role model to me.

What do you think the industry could do to attract and retain the best and the brightest today?

Unfortunately, the aviation industry still has the reputation of being quite antiquated when it comes to the advancement of women. However, I have seen a marked effort on the part of various female leaders in aviation and aviation finance to get the message out that women can advance to the highest echelons of our industry. Organizations like IAWA (International Aviation Womens Association) have done significant work to promote this, to propel women speakers to industry panel discussions, to host women’s networking events, to make sure younger people entering the space know that it is a changed industry. I think aviation in general needs to continue to demonstrate to young people (male and female alike) that the industry is evolving technologically and that it can be a fascinating and fruitful place to spend your career, whether in finance, on the manufacturing side or with an airline. It is truly an amazing industry that none of us can live without.