“Meet people where they are — not where you want them to be . Equip them from that place and they will exceed every expectation. That lesson, learned late, now drives everything about how I lead and show up for others.”
Tree M. Buckingham’s 30-year journey in specialty finance is a masterclass in operational excellence, versatile leadership and the power of embracing the unexpected. Her career began not with a meticulously mapped-out corporate strategy, but with a response to a simple job ad for a factoring verification specialist. From those early fundamentals, she fully immersed herself in the specialty finance ecosystem, including asset-based lending, equipment finance, healthcare finance and syndications.
Today, as managing director of specialty finance and revolver operations at Chicago Atlantic, Buckingham brings a rare, highly valued combination of startup DNA, product breadth and multidisciplinary depth to her work. Her defining professional turning point arrived when she was recruited to run operations for Core Business Credit, an asset-based lending startup. Standing up loan systems and building accounting interfaces from scratch under tight deadlines permanently expanded her strategic capabilities and helped define her career.
She successfully replicated this operational blueprint at multiple firms while also navigating major merger-and-acquisition integrations at Sterling National Bank and managing hundreds of millions of dollars in acquired assets.
Buckingham’s cross-functional fluency across credit, risk, technology and portfolio management makes her an invaluable leader in high-stakes environments where execution is not optional.
Off the deal sheet, she is a passionate champion for the advancement of women in financial services. Buckingham encourages rising female professionals to carry both confidence and humility as partners, urging them to claim their seats at the table and actively drive their own professional and personal evolution. As she reflects on 30 years of growth, she remains inspired by the industry’s cultural shift and the unstoppable rise of the next generation.
