RAIT Financial Trust announced that, on June 26, 2017, the Board of Trustees increased the size of the Board by two to eleven Trustees and appointed two new independent Trustees to fill the vacancies created by this increase, with these appointments to take effect on July 9, 2017. These new Trustees are Nancy Jo Kuenstner, an experienced strategic consultant with an extensive banking and finance background and Justin P. Klein, a partner with the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP and a seasoned corporate counselor and practitioner in the areas of securities law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. The Board has determined that both Nancy and Justin qualify as independent trustees as such term is defined in RAIT's Trust Governance Guidelines.