Leadership Team
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Aylin Cankardes
Founder & President
Aylin has 35 years of experience in executive leadership and corporate finance. Prior to founding Rockwell Financial Group, she was the founder and President of Southern Pacific BanCapital, leading the bank leasing group on behalf of Imperial Credit Industries. She has held a number of senior management positions managing national enterprise accounts.Aylin also provides strategic leadership for the financing and business initiatives of RC Energy, the renewable and LED sector of the business, as well as directing all project investments for the company. Aylin has served as a Director on the Board of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) as well as the Foundation (ELFF), which represents a trillion dollar industry.
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Evan Christenson
Chief Financial Officer
Evan has 35 years' experience as a lender. Beginning his career at PNC, he had leadership roles in both commercial banking and large corporate. At his promotion to Vice President, he was the youngest VP at the Bank. When promoted to credit officer, he was responsible for a $9 billion portfolio.Today, Evan leads the project financing initiatives. He directs business development and business operations for the company and was instrumental in creating the energy financing business. Evan is the Chief Financial Officer.
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Don Miller
Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel
Don is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Rockwell Financial Group and has over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy industry. Prior to Rockwell Financial Group, Don was COO and General Counsel at Adapture Renewables, Inc., having been one of the founders of its earlier iteration as Enerparc Inc., later leading the legal work to transition ownership to KIRKBI.Don has JD, MBA, and MA degrees. Originally a linguist, with a focus on Spanish and Russian (now adding German).
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Joe Bennett
Senior Vice President
Joe is Senior Vice President at Rockwell Financial Group, with 40+ years experience in finance and leasing. He leads the company's energy contract and documentation efforts, supports financial structuring, and provides stategic guidance for business development. Prior to Rockwell Financial Group, he served as SVP at Commerce Funding Corporation, providing financing for federal and commercial contracts, and at Finalco, Inc., where he managed portfolios focused on high-tech equipment financing for Fortune 500 companies. -

Allen Wilson
Director - Project Finance
Allen is Director-Project Finance at Rockwell Financial Group, with 11 years of experience in the renewable energy sector. He leads financial and project analysis/modeling and energy pricing for the company. He provides proposal support, contract review, operational performance monitoring, and policy analysis to the team, while also supporting business development and client needs. Previously, he worked in consulting.Allen holds an MBA, a Master’s in Natural Resources Law, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering.
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Jim Volpa
Vice President of Development
Jim is Vice President of Development at Rockwell Financial Group, with 20 years of experience in the renewable energy industry. He leads strategic and new business development, partner engagement, and program development. Jim began his renewable energy career at Bella Energy, one of the largest solar firms in the western U.S., where he developed projects for commercial, government, and university customers.Jim was a pioneer in introducing third-party financed solar projects to the Colorado market.
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Gerard Mitchell
Vice President-Business Development
Gerard is Vice President-Business Development at Rockwell Financial Group, with 25 years of experience in the renewable energy and electronics industries. He focuses on new business development and project management. Prior to joining Rockwell Financial Group, he was the U.S. Sales Manager for DMEGC Solar USA, where he led EPC partnerships, sales and marketing, international logistics, and overall U.S. operations.Gerard holds a degree in English literature from the University of California at Los Angeles.
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Joe Borkowski
Greenfield Development Manager
Joe is Greenfield Development Manager at Rockwell Financial Group, with over 25 years of senior management experience in renewable energy development and high tech industries. He leads projects from greenfield site selection through design, construction, and commissioning. After seven years in the wind industry, he transitioned to solar at Phoenix Solar, where he led PV business development across the U.S.Joe brings broad expertise across wind, utility-scale solar, and community solar projects. Joe has shepherded many successful projects to fruition, and built and managed teams and companies.
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Carolyn Maddox
Senior Contracts Manager
Carolyn is Senior Contracts Manager at Rockwell Financial Group, with over 30 years of experience in leasing and energy. She oversees contractual operations and on-going administration for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Before joining Rockwell Financial Group, Carolyn was Assistant Vice President of Contracts at Southern Pacific BanCapital, and prior to that she built her expertise in equipment leasing and documentation negotiations at Capital Associates International, Inc., where she held various positions including Assistant Vice President.Carolyn holds a Master's of Science in Finance and a Bachelor's of Science in accounting.
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Diane Sullivan
Project Manager
Diana is Project Manager at Rockwell Financial Group, with 8 years of experience in renewable energy. Diana manages operational performance through active monitoring and planned maintenance for the company’s solar and lighting project portfolio, in order to maximize energy output and prolong the systems' lifespans. Diana's experience is rooted in the service silo of renewable energy systems, aquiring technical knowledge and building vendor relationships to ensure systems operate consistently, dependably and efficiently. Prior to Rockwell Financial Group, Diana managed the performance of investor assets and power purchase agreements as an asset manager for a New England-based EPC. -
Michelle Hanley
Director of Administration
Michelle is Director of Administration at Rockwell Financial Group, with 23 years at the company. She oversees accounting, human resources, bank compliance, and operations. Michelle has been able to leverage her technical expertise to support the team and its clients efforts on project financing opportunities as well as its ownership of energy projects.Previously, Michelle was a senior engineering design manager, leading initiatives to improve manufacturing efficiency and cost-saving processes. Michelle holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
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Debbie Siefert
Senior Operations Manager
Debbie has over 30 years of experience in investor and finance management roles. With an extensive background working for Public Income Funds and customer interface, she joined Rockwell Financial Group in 2005 to manage the operations of the company.Drawing on her strong experience in client relations and operations, she manages the full documentation life cycle and compliance for enterprise accounts. Her oversight spans pricing, negotiations, loan rereview, equipment reseller coordination in addition to managing rent, sale, and property tax collections.
Debbie has nearly 20 years’ experience with various software products with a deep understanding of Asset Management Platforms for the coordination of customer servicing.