Susan Costlow
Susan Costlow is the Vice President of Leadership and Learning Communities at Manufacturers Alliance. She is also the Council Director for the CFO council. Her expertise in Business Strategy, Corporate Development, Strategic Alliances & Partnerships, Finance, Treasury, and Investment & Capital Markets have enabled her to execute critical responsibilities in leading positions.
Prior to her work at Manufacturers Alliance, Susan was the Director of Corporate Development for the Lockheed Martin Corporation, where she executed M&A transactions and was responsible for leading the Corporation’s venture capital activities. She created Lockheed Martin’s $100M Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) in 2007 and made key investments in early stage companies with technologies of strategic interest to Lockheed Martin and its operating units. Earlier, Susan served in Corporate Treasury, where she was Director of Corporate Banking and prior to that, Director of Project and Trade Finance. She managed Lockheed Martin’s commercial lending group, rating agency relationships, leasing activity, project finance activity, and was responsible for the Corporation’s trade finance portfolio. She led several important initiatives during this period, including issuing $3B in Corporate bonds in a key capital structure initiative, negotiating and syndicating a $2 billion credit facility to ensure liquidity, syndicating a $300M synthetic lease for the Corporation’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Launch Pad and issuing the largest letter of credit in the Corporation’s history ($2B). Before joining Treasury, Susan was a Corporate Auditor and served in a variety of increasingly responsible finance positions within Lockheed Martin’s Electronics Systems and the Information Services and Global Solutions businesses.
Susan graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Procurement and Materials Management. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Rutgers University and a Masters Certificate in International Business from George Washington University. She is very active with the National Industries for the Blind and currently serves as chairman of the board.