STEERING COMMITTEE

Behind AWAR’s success is our dedicated team of experienced leaders, drawn from multiple sectors of the aviation industry including major airlines, leasing companies, financial institutions, law firms and professional services organizations. We share a passion for the advancement of women in all aspects of the industry, and an unwavering belief that by engaging with our male and female industry colleagues, we can drive real change.

Mehtap Cevher Conti

Partner, Hogan Lovells

AWAR Steering Committee Member

Mehtap Cevher Conti is a partner at Hogan Lovells, where she concentrates her practice on asset finance, particularly in the aviation and transportation industries. Her broad-based experience includes working with clients on secured debt and export credit agency supported transactions, revolving credit facilities, leveraged leases, operating leases, portfolio acquisitions, and asset-backed structured financings and securitizations for commercial and investment banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, aircraft operating lessors, and airlines. She also advises clients in the purchase and lease financing of corporate aircraft and helicopters.

Ms. Cevher Conti frequently handles finance transactions that involve multiple global jurisdictions. She has been recognized in The Legal 500 US for Aviation/Air Travel Finance, as well as in Euromoney’s Expert Guides for Aviation.

Ms. Cevher Conti received her BA from Koç University in Istanbul and her JD from Boston College Law School. She is a native of Turkey and is fluent in Turkish.

BIO

Sarah conway

Senior Vice President & Head of Lessor Origination, Pricing & Structuring, Deucalion Aviation Limited, London

AWAR Steering Committee Member

Sarah Conway is a Senior Vice President and Head of Lessor Origination, Pricing & Structuring for Deucalion Aviation Limited (“Deucalion”) in the London office. Since 2020 she has been responsible for all origination initiatives with lessors and banks globally, leading a team tasked with expanding Deucalion’s global footprint in both debt sourcing and investment origination. Sarah is a member of the Deucalion Senior Management Team and also part of Deucalion’s Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) working group. From 2013 she worked alongside the Deucalion platform at DVB Bank SE as an SVP in the Structured Lending Team where she was responsible for originating opportunities from airlines and lessors in EMEA. In this role she originated on a wide variety of financing transactions from non-recourse debt to full recourse warehouse facilities for airlines and leasing companies in EMEA, closing over US$1bn of fund-raising for over 15 airline and lessor clients.

With over 19 years of experience across aviation and banking, Sarah has accumulated significant knowledge in a wide range of topics including structured lending and equity origination, debt sourcing, pricing analysis and asset valuation. Roles at RBS Aviation Capital in aviation leasing and Ascend as a Senior Risk Advisor were instrumental in forming Sarah’s deep understanding of aviation risk, leasing and finance.

Sarah graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Financial Maths and Economics from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She also holds a Masters of Science in Investment and Treasury from Dublin City University.

BIO

Kellianne Kelly

Vice President and Head of Special Purpose Acquisition
Companies Private Investment in Public Equity (SPAC PIPEs), evercore

AWAR Steering Committee Member

Kellianne Kelly joins the steering committee following her tenure as a member of the
AWAR board. She is a Vice President and Head of Special Purpose Acquisition
Companies Private Investment in Public Equity (SPAC PIPEs) and Equity Private
Placements in the firm’s Equity Capital Markets business, where she is charged with
securing capital to facilitate SPAC transactions across all industries, through traditional
and non- traditional investors.

Prior to her banking career, Kellianne served in the U.S. Army working in military
intelligence and is currently active in Evercore’s Veteran resource group; she also focuses
on enhancing Evercore’s other diversity initiatives on behalf of women and
underrepresented minorities.

BIO

marie ryan

head of asset allocation, Avolon

AWAR Steering Committee Member

Marie Ryan is the Head of Asset Allocation with Avolon in Dublin, Ireland. Her focus is on accurate evaluation of all commercial transactions, transaction structuring, model development and commercial portfolio analysis. In portfolio analysis, Marie is responsible for driving the strategic outlook of Avolon’s roll-off and trading portfolios incorporating technical, commercial and financial factors. She  previously held the role of Head of Contracts Management & Pricing from 2012 to 2019.

Marie began her professional career as a Market Risk Analyst in Ulster Bank, working in financial markets for seven years prior to a move into aircraft leasing in 2007.

Marie has a Bachelor of Business from University of Limerick and a Masters in Financial Engineering from National University Ireland, Maynooth.

BIO

ImpactfuL AWAR EVENTS

Unique opportunities for real engagement – across gender and seniority lines

AWAR events seek to educate and enlighten, providing unique opportunities for engagement with our industry colleagues. Roundtable exercises set the stage for meaningful dialogue and learning through shared experiences.

EVENTS