Deborah A. Golden is an independent board director, corporate advisor and senior executive with over 25 years of experience leading businesses.  She currently serves on the board of directors of Midland States Bancorp, Inc., a publicly-held, community-based financial holding company, where she is the Chair of the Compensation Committee.  Ms. Golden previously served as a director on the board of Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance LLC, a joint venture between GATX Corporation and Rolls-Royce that is one of the world’s largest spare aircraft engine leasing companies.  She has deep expertise in risk management, corporate governance, equipment leasing, executive compensation and ESG matters, understanding the priorities of institutional investors.

Ms. Golden is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of GATX Corporation, the global leader in railcar leasing. She is responsible for all legal, regulatory and corporate governance matters at GATX and manages a team of professionals located throughout the world.  As a member of GATX’s senior leadership team, Ms. Golden is actively engaged in all facets of the Company’s business including developing and implementing global strategic initiatives, capital investments and overseeing all mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.

In addition to her legal and regulatory responsibilities at GATX, Ms. Golden is also the executive in charge of Internal Audit and Compliance.  In this capacity, she is responsible for management and oversight of all internal audit initiatives, as well as the development and implementation of effective world-wide compliance and risk management programs.  In addition to being financially literate, she has extensive experience in public policy and legislative affairs both at the local and national levels and is actively engaged in transportation regulatory matters.   Ms. Golden is the senior leader sponsor and a founder of Women in Leadership, an employee resource group at GATX committed to hiring, developing and promoting women in the workforce.

Ms. Golden is also engaged in numerous professional and civic organizations, including former service on the boards of the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation and Women Employed. She is a member of The Chicago Network, the Economic Club of Chicago, past Chair of the Board of Governors of Loyola University School of Law and the Senior Leadership Council of Loyola Graduate School of Business. She is a frequent panelist and speaker on a variety of issues including corporate governance, regulatory and legal matters.

Prior to joining GATX Corporation, Ms. Golden worked in highly regulated industries, serving as Vice President and General Counsel for Midwest Generation LLC, a power generation company, and Assistant General Counsel for Ameritech Corporation and SBC Communications, Inc.  Ms. Golden also served in the public sector as Deputy General Counsel for the State of Illinois, Office of the Governor.  Her legal career began as a partner at Schiff, Hardin & Waite in Chicago, Illinois.  She resides in Chicago with her husband.