Larry Garatoni
CEO of the Garatoni Family Office
Larry is the CEO of the Garatoni Family Office. He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Purdue in 1961 and completed the Owners/President program at Harvard. He attained the rank of captain in the Army Corp of Engineers. He and Judy have four children, 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild and have been happily married for 63 years. Over a 45-year business career he started, managed and either sold or bought more than 15 companies. He sold all his business assets in 2007 and formed the Garatoni Family Office. The Garatoni Family Office is starting its sixth not for profit entity.
Elizabeth Naquin Borger, MBA
Senior Vice President/Investments
Liz serves as Senior Vice President/Investments with The Elkhart Group at Stifel, one of the nation’s leading full-service wealth management and investment banking firms. Liz leads a team of 14 professionals that serve individuals and institutions from coast to coast. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and then a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She had the honor of delivering the commencement address for her class at graduation. Forbes has listed her among America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors. She is also on Forbes’ list of Best in State Wealth Advisors. The Wall Street Journal and other publications have featured Liz in articles regarding her work with a complex multinational estate.
Liz began her career with Inland Steel, a $2.6 billion major steel firm based in Chicago. After 14 years, serving in leadership roles in sales, marketing and strategic planning, Liz earned the distinction of being the highest ranking female and was selected by the board to be on the officer replacement list for the corporation. In her mid 30’s, Liz chose to relocate back to her hometown of Elkhart, Indiana and be near family. She later married her husband Tom Borger, a fellow Notre Dame graduate and renowned architect. They were married 24 years when he passed away in 2017 from an aggressive brain cancer.
Liz learned the importance of being involved in civic activities from an early age. Her father stressed the value of speaking up and making a difference; that if you were involved, you should be committed and willing to lead. She has done so by serving as Chair of the Board and/or President for Premier Arts, The Elkhart County Symphony, The Notre Dame Club of St. Joe Valley, PEO Chapter AI, Progress Club and The Women’s Care Center which is a South Bend based organization serving mothers and babies across the nation. She is happily serving on the board of The Women’s Care Center again, as well as on the board for enFocus, Shakespeare in Performance at Notre Dame and as a founding director for the Institute for Economic Communities. In the past Liz has served on the boards of Loveway, The Elkhart County 4-H Fair, the Elco Commission, Indiana University-South Bend Performing Arts Council, Wellfield Botanic Gardens, WNIT-TV Michiana Public Broadcasting as well as the Community Foundation of Elkhart County.
Given her business experiences, Liz has lectured in classes at The Harvard Graduate School of Business, University of Michigan, University of Illinois, Drake University and, for more than 35 years, at the University of Notre Dame. For ten years Liz served as a Trustee for Holy Cross College.
Liz says that her favorite role of all is as “Nana” to 10 beautiful grandchildren.
Deacon Melvin R. Tardy, Jr.
Associate Advising Professor, College of Arts & Letter
Deacon Mel Tardy earned a BA in Studio Art in 1986 and an MBA in International Finance in 1990 at the University of Notre Dame, where he serves as an Associate Advising Professor in the College of Arts & Letters.
Ordained a permanent deacon in May 2011 by Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Tardy serves the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend at St. Augustine Parish; as chair of the Black Catholic Advisory Board; as a Foundations of Faith instructor for educators; and as a member of the Deacon Admissions and Scrutiny Board.
Deacon Tardy also serves as president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus and on the boards of the National Black Catholic Congress, the National Association of Black Catholic Deacons and the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics & Liturgics at Notre Dame. He is a director on the Mission Integration Committee for the University of St. Francis board of directors, and a member of the Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network of the Lumen Christi Institute in Chicago and the African American Vocations Committee of the National Religious Vocations Conference.
Tardy is a contributing author for the 2014 book: Black Domers: 70 Years at Notre Dame. His recent articles include The Diaconal Vocation and The Power of the Eucharist for Our Sunday Visitor. Tardy is a dynamic public speaker, workshop presenter and retreat leader who has inspired clergy, religious, and laity across the nation.
In 2021, Tardy was presented the Archbishop James P. Lyke African American Male Image Award by The Knights of Peter Claver, Ladies Auxiliary St. Felicitas ~ St. Ailbe Court #181 in Chicago.
He and his wife Annie serve in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Tolton Ambassadors of Indiana, and the Youth & Young Adult Ministry at St. Augustine Parish in South Bend, Indiana.