Lafayette Capital Advisors
Our Team
Kevin P. Varney
Kevin Varney is a Managing Director of Lafayette Capital Advisors, (LCA). Before joining Lafayette Advisors, he spent ten years with the Boeing Company serving in numerous leadership roles including Senior Director & Chief of Staff for Boeing Government Operations, and as the Executive Director for Boeing Global Engagement.
Prior to Boeing, Varney served as Senior Vice President & Chief of Staff at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, as the principal economic, political and communications advisor to the Chairman and President of the Bank. Kevin Varney entered government service as special assistant to the Secretary of Secretary of the Treasury and served as a senior staff member of the White House National Economic Council.
In addition to his public policy experience, Varney has served as an independent consultant and representative for Fortune 100 companies and organizations including Total Energies, Boeing, Google, Daimler-Benz, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). For over 20 years Varney has advised international public and private sector clients on a wide array of international financial, political and trade matters.
Kevin earned his MBA with a concentration in finance from Johns Hopkins University, attended the London School of Economics, and is a graduate of the University of Utah. He and his wife reside in Washington, DC.
Kevin can be reached at kevin.varney@lafayettecapitaladvisors.com
David M. Sena
David Sena, former Chief Financial Officer for the United States Export-Import Bank has joined Lafayette Capital Advisors as a senior partner. Mr. Sena served as a senior United States government financial services executive with a 30-year track record of success. Mr. Sena led senior management teams that managed over $50 billion in structured and project finance transactions
Mr. Sena led efforts for the Export-Import Bank to become a self-financing and profitable agency of the U.S. government and is an expert in pricing and reserve requirements in the U.S government. Mr. Sena also led the Export-Import Bank’s Office of Board Authorized Finance as the senior vice president, creating this new office that combined the agency’s underwriting team with the technical team and the loan monitoring team.
Mr. Sena oversaw the major reorganization effort to build a deal team bank for all medium-term and long-term transactions from the point of underwriting a deal to due diligence and approval and through post-approval monitoring and management. Mr. Sena actively managed the $40 billion pipeline of potential new transactions, and oversaw significant increases in new approvals during this time, including the largest transaction in EXIM history, valued at nearly $5 billion. During this time, he established the first risk-sharing program with the private sector among credit agencies in the U.S. government.
Mr. Sena most recently served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Governor Glenn Youngkin, (RVA) in the Transformation Office leading efforts to increase business efficiencies across government agency functions and processes.
David Sena received his MBA at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and his dual degree BA from the Pennsylvania State University.
David can be reached at david.sena@lafayettecapitaladvisors.com
Nicole Ruff
Nicole Ruff has joined Lafayette Capital Advisors as a principal after a 25-year career leading U.S. government enterprise operations, budget and procurement oversight, as well as enterprise risk management.
Before joining Lafayette, Nicole served as the Deputy Director of the Management Operations Division of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), directly supervising LPO’s human resource, procurement, financial operations, and enterprise risk management functions during an unprecedented period of growth for LPO.
Prior to her time at LPO, Nicole served in multiple managerial and operational roles at the U.S. Export Import Bank, including Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chief Human Capital Officer (acting), Senior Advisor to the Senior Vice President of the Office of Board Authorized Finance, Chief of Staff to the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of the Export Finance Group, and Vice President of the Operations and Data Quality Division.
In these roles, Nicole authored audit responses as well as underwriting and operational guidance documents, prepared transaction summaries for agency leadership, provided agency executives with necessary data and analysis for informed decision making, and managed the daily operations of executive offices.
Nicole earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration degree from The George Washington University.
Nicole can be reached at nicole.ruff@lafayettecapitaladvisors.com
About Lafayette Capital Advisors
Lafayette Capital Advisors provides clients with project finance advisory and advocacy services from initial loan application and underwriting review through credit & technical analysis, to environmental assessment services for domestic and international companies seeking to utilize U.S. Government financing programs including direct loans, loan guarantees and insurance products for the manufacturing, production and sale of U.S. goods and services. In 2025 LCA clients received U.S. Government approval for over $4 billion in direct loans.
Decades of Financial Expertise
Lafayette Capital Advisors brings decades of experience in structuring capital solutions for industrial and energy sector projects. Our team understands the financial challenges of large-scale investments and provides strategic guidance to ensure trusted financial consultants and sustainable growth.
Navigating Complex Funding
Our expertise spans project financing, risk management, and capital allocation. We take pride in offering strategic financial consultants who help clients navigate complex funding landscapes. Get in touch to learn how we can support your financial goals.