Ashland Place Finance LLC (“Ashland Place”) is a global lending platform, offering innovative financing solutions to the commercial aerospace industry.

Jennifer Villa currently serves as Executive Director & Group Head of Ashland Place Finance LLC. 

Prior to this, Villa served as President of CIT’s Aviation Lending business. Villa rejoined CIT to lead Aviation Lending in October 2017 following the sale of the leasing division to Avolon in April 2017. Before its sale to KKR in June 2021, Villa nearly tripled the size of the loan book in less than three years.

During her previous tenure at CIT, Villa was most recently Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of the aerospace business, overseeing a $22 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, Villa also led the company’s restructuring efforts with multiple airlines in the post-9/11 period.

Villa earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and a Certificate in Political Economics from Princeton University. She is also a member of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) and IAWA (International Aviation Women’s Association), a member of the Board of Directors of Airlink, a charity connecting airlines and nonprofits in the wake of natural disasters and other humanitarian crises worldwide, and is active with the alumni groups of both Princeton and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Sarah Conway is a Director at Ashland Place Finance, based in London, United Kingdom.  

Sarah is a seasoned specialist in aircraft leasing and finance, with more than 20 years of experience in aviation and banking. She has built her career in senior roles with leading institutions, combining expertise in aviation finance, lessor relations, and structured transactions. Most recently, she served as Senior Director Aviation Finance at Hamburg Commercial Bank, where she was responsible for developing the bank’s aviation finance portfolio. 

Prior to that, she was Head of Lessor Origination, Pricing & Structuring at Deucalion Aviation, overseeing commercial strategy and execution with key leasing partners and lenders. Sarah’s earlier career includes positions at MUFG Bank, DVB Bank, RBS Aviation Capital, and Ascend. In these roles, she gained extensive experience in origination, structuring, and analysis, further deepening her expertise across the global aviation industry.

She also serves as a Director on the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (“ISTAT”) Board, contributing to the advancement of the aviation finance and leasing industry worldwide.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Financial Mathematics and Economics from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Master of Science in Investment and Treasury from Dublin City University.

 

Jithin Abraham is an Associate at Ashland Place Finance, based in Dublin, Ireland.

Jithin brings broad experience across aviation finance and leasing.  Before joining Ashland Place, Jithin served as an Assistant Vice President on the Commercial team at Voyager Aviation Holdings, where he led negotiations and projects for leasing, sale, and purchase transactions, while also overseeing day-to-day commercial operations for the fleet.

Prior to Voyager, Jithin was part of the Commercial Team at Chorus Aviation, with a core focus on financial modelling, transaction execution, credit, and market analysis.

Jithin holds a Bachelor of Technology in Aeronautical Engineering from Hindustan University, a Master of Science in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University, and a Master of Science in Aviation Finance from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.