Marcia V. Perkins is recognized for her ability to quickly assess situations and needs, and to develop and execute practical action plans. Joining deep technical financial skills with strong communication and management abilities distinguish her and promote collaboration.
As a seasoned commercial finance executive, Marcia worked directly with hundreds of companies and reviewed thousands - from $10 million to over $1 billion in sales, representing all industries, and dispersed throughout the United States and Canada. Her lending and investment work included evaluating a company's management team, strategic plan, financial forecast, industry outlook and competitive position, and then working directly with management teams and private equity owners as the companies grew, made acquisitions, and worked through economic cycles.
Consistent themes in Marcia's career include embracing change, learning new skills, and building and motivating teams - whether reinvigorating a business, adding product lines or starting up new ventures. As a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, she was one of three founding leaders building Merrill Lynch Capital Corporate Finance from 3 employees to over $17.5 billion in managed assets and 175 employees in 6 years. She began her career at Heller Financial, Inc., a leading middle market provider of leveraged loans. She worked her way up to Executive Vice President, serving as one of four leaders heading the $6 billion Corporate Finance division. She served on the Investment Committees at Merrill Lynch and Heller.
Marcia and her co-founder, Diane Sawyer, presented "Reframe Your Thoughts" at TEDx UWMilwaukee, sharing a powerful tool to help women confront their internal barriers and get out of their own way. Marcia is a listed contributor to the ABA’s 2018 publication Zero Tolerance: Best Practices for Combating Sex-Based Harassment in the Legal Profession.
Marcia has presented on "Building Strong Self-Advocacy Skills" to an all-female high school STEM class, special education students and their parents, and immigrant women in a job-readiness program. She is Illinois-certified in Domestic Violence Crisis Intervention and serves at Wings as a career coach to women escaping domestic violence. She is an Illinois-certified Adult Literacy Tutor and is active in literacy and ESL volunteer work with adults and children. In 2013, the Rotary Club awarded her an honorary Paul Harris Fellowship for her ongoing service promoting literacy in the community.