Board of Directors
2024-2026 Board of Excellence
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WSP USA
Chair
Tanya works with WSP USA’s business lines, regions, and functional groups to create a work environment that produces three key outcomes: a culture of trust that provides safe spaces for sensitive conversations; increased workforce diversity and advancement of WSP diversity talent; and greater support for WSP colleagues who are leaders in underrepresented communities. In addition, in her role as Senior Vice President of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity, Tanya advocates for minority business involvement in both the engineering and business communities and on WSP USA’s contracts. Prior to joining the firm, she served in leadership roles with the Illinois Department of Transportation for 19 years.
Tanya is actively involved in diversity initiatives with community organizations—serving alongside many minority business partners—and she develops and directs both internal and external programs to meet business diversity needs. Tanya’s personal objective is to see the diverse faces of America equally reflected at all levels of the transportation industry. She has devoted her career to serving as an advocate and a resource to minority individuals and businesses.
Since 2007, Tanya has been involved in the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), having served as a member of the Board, Corporate Advisory Council, Joint Leadership Team, Women Who Move the Nation Committee, and the Program Planning Committee. In 2016, she was named COMTO’s Corporate Executive of the Year, in 2018 she received COMTO’s President’s Award for Excellence and currently serves as 1st Vice-Chair, recognizing her leadership efforts and outreach to minority and disadvantaged business firms locally and nationwide.
In 2015, she became the first African American woman to be elected to the board of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Illinois. She also served as the Chair of ACEC’s Students Engaged in Engineering Committee for 10 years, currently serving as Vice Board Chair, Tanya is actively engaging and fostering an interest in the transportation industry among students.
In addition, Tanya is a member of WTS and was named 2018 Woman of the Year; she also actively participates in the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association (IRTBA).
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Lester Woods
First Vice-Chair
Lester Woods was appointed Chief Administrative Officer on April 1, 2020, after serving in the position on an interim basis since July 2019. In this capacity, he oversees four MoDOT divisions including communications, diversity and inclusion, health and wellness, and human resources. He has been with MoDOT for 19 years, and previously, served as MoDOT’s External Civil Rights Director for 15 years.
Before coming to MoDOT, he worked in human resources at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Woods holds a bachelor of science degree in wildlife biology from Grambling State University, a master of public administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and was conferred with a doctor of ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in May 2020.
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Gwendolen Gray
Second Vice-Chair
Ms. Gray has a professional multi-modal transportation background and has served in the public and the private sector infrastructure projects for twenty-nine years. She has gained a wide range of experience in program management, project, construction management and compliance management—this includes project controls on capital, rail, freight rail, highway, roads and ports.
Ms. Gray is currently the Vice President, Program Management for HNTB. She has over 24 years experience in the public transportation industry. Her extensive transportation network expands throughout the country. She focuses on project controls for the firm’s current and future complex infrastructure work, as well as community relations and engagement in the firm’s West Division. She is based in the HNTB downtown Los Angeles office.
Previously, Ms. Gray was the Project Controls Program Management Consultant in the Program Management and Highway Group, Los Angeles County Transportation Authority. Ms. Gray also has twelve years of professional experience of Compliance Management and Small Business Enterprise (SBE), Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Disadvantage Veteran Businesses Enterprise (DVBE) Oversight. Ms. Gray holds a B.S in Organization Management and a minor in Accounting from Cabrini University.
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Yetunde Olumide
Treasurer/Secretary
Yetunde Olumide is a finance professional with over 20 years’ experience in manufacturing, food service, education and transportation industries. Ms. Olumide has a BS in Finance from Tuskegee University where she graduated with honors and an MBA in International Business from Loyola College. Prior to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Ms. Olumide worked in various financial capacities, notably at Schlumberger and Newell Rubbermaid. Ms. Olumide currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President at WMATA. She has been at WMATA for 13 years and previously served as Finance Manager and Director, Operating Budget, and Vice President Finance, Office of Management and Budget. In her current role, Ms. Olumide is responsible for the financial integrity and administrative functions of Metro, including advising the General Manager/Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors, developing financial policies, including budget development and execution, long range financial planning, the collection of revenues and other income, purchasing all goods and services required by the Metro, accounting for the financial transactions of assets and liabilities, federal grants and risk management as well as real estate and development.
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Johnell Bell
Member at Large
Johnell Bell is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Espousal Strategies LLC, a boutique consultancy that provides government relations, public and stakeholder engagement services to businesses, private-public partnerships, nonprofits, and government agencies. He is also the Chief of Equity Officer for the Interstate Bridge Program.
Prior to founding Espousal, Johnell served as State Field Director for U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley where he led the senator’s forward-facing outreach and state field operations. Johnell also served as Director of Diversity and Transit Equity for TriMet where he served as the agency’s Chief Diversity Officer overseeing Title VI, D/MWESB, transit equity, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies. His efforts received national recognition and he helped to set Oregon’s record of awarding over $170 million to DBE firms during the construction of the Orange line.
He works with an array of stakeholders – citizens, international construction firms, D/M/W/ESB enterprises, and government officials – to design, implement, monitor, and document successful initiatives for D/M/W/ESB utilization, equity and inclusion, community engagement, and business, workforce, and community development.
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Sharon Jean-Baptiste
Member at Large
Ms. Jean-Baptiste is an accomplished engineering executive with over 24 years of experience in the water, transportation and built environment sectors. A civil and environmental engineer by background, she has served in operational, program delivery, technology and innovation, and sales leadership roles over her career. Sharon has worked with public agencies to develop solutions to complex environmental and community challenges, successfully led highly visible capital infrastructure programs, and facilitated multi-stakeholder engagement, policy development, community outreach, diverse business capacity building and workforce development. She is passionate about connecting people and places through transformative solutions that put communities first to achieve lasting equitable outcomes. Sharon joined Jacobs in 2007 and currently serves as Vice President, Strategic Growth and Delivery for the Americas East region. She focuses on business portfolio growth, broad industry impact, and client relationships and national partnerships. Prior to this role, Sharon led Operations for Midwest US (OH/MI/IN/IL/WI/MN/IA/MO) leading an exceptional talent force, partnering with clients to solve challenges, and focusing on future sustainable business growth. Sharon has held many other key roles at Jacobs including Vice President, Growth & Sales for MidAtlantic US (PA/DE/DC/MD/VA) and US North Regional Solutions & Technology Director. She also previously served as the Executive Advisor (Chief of Staff) to the CEO and Chair. In her more than16 years at Jacobs, Sharon has made an impact on the company culture. In addition to her promotion of technology and innovation, she has been an advocate for corporate giving and volunteering programs, and inclusion and diversity strategies. She is an active member and mentor within several Employee Networks at Jacobs including former global lead of the Black Employee Network (Harambee) and current global colead of the Women’s Network. She serves as a positive mental health champion and is a past nominee for Jacobs’ Inclusive Leader Award for enabling an inclusive workplace culture. Sharon contributes to the industry through leadership roles in several technical and advocacy organizations including COMTO, WTS, NSBE, ACEC and IRTBA. She is a frequent speaker/presenter and has co-authored several technical and industry papers and articles. As a community servant, Sharon also engages in her local community on issues related to the environment, education access, and economic empowerment. She has served on numerous boards including the Board of Trustees for the Community College of Philadelphia and the Urban Affairs Coalition. Sharon has been recognized for her industry and community contributions and impact, most recently as the Career Communications Group’s Women of Color STEM Career Achievement honoree.
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Debra Johnson
Member at Large
Debra A. Johnson serves as the General Manager and CEO of Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD), the only multi-modal transit agency within the Denver metro region, encompassing 2,342 square miles and serving a population of over 3 million. She joined RTD in 2020, becoming the first woman to lead the agency in its more than half-century history. She previously served as Deputy CEO of Long Beach Transit, where she served from May 2014 to October 2020. Prior to that, Johnson served as the Chief Operations Officer at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), as well as other C-Suite positions at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). She began her career in the public transportation space at an engineering consulting firm, performing work on various capital improvement projects, and transitioned to roles in the public transit for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and later the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
Johnson holds a master of arts degree in public administration from California State University, Hayward (now CSU East Bay) and a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from the University of California, Davis. A member of the WTS International Board of Directors, she also serves in leadership roles in several transit-related organizations, including the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and many of the association’s committees as well as its Public Transportation CEOs Coordinating Council, for which she serves as 2nd Vice Chair; the American Public Transportation Foundation; and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials Colorado Chapter Advisory Board. Additionally, she is a member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) International, the Front Range Passenger Rail District Board of Directors, the Visit Denver Community Board, the Metropolitan State University of Denver Community Cabinet, the International Women’s Forum of Colorado, the Denver Civic Ventures Board, and the Chief organization for women executive leaders.
As an active COMTO member for more than a quarter century, Johnson has been a member of the Northern California, Southern California, Washington, D.C., and Colorado chapters. She served as president of the Northern California chapter from 2011 to 2012 and as the executive advisor to the Southern California chapter from 2014 through 2020. A recipient of numerous accolades and awards over her distinguished 30-plus year career in transportation, Johnson was named by the Southern California COMTO chapter as one of 10 “Women Who Move the Nation” in 2019 for her work in women’s advocacy and was awarded the Outstanding Transportation Executive Leadership Award – Women Leaders of California in March 2016.
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SYSTRA USA
Member at Large
Kimberly is Executive Consultant with Olivier, Inc. Previously, Kimberly served as SYSTRA USA’s chief executive officer focused on furthering the company’s mission to contribute to the cities and regions in which they work and live by creating, improving, and modernizing their transportation and infrastructure systems, while furthering sustainable development. Kimberly has spent over 35 years in the public and private sectors of the public transportation industry. Kimberly is a passionate force behind helping to provide access to safe, reliable, affordable, and convenient public transit to all communities. She has worked on transit projects in communities across the United States. Putting her passion into practice, she serves on several professional and community- based association boards and in committee leadership positions. These include the Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity, the executive committee of the American Public Transportation Association, the Black Women of Greater Houston Political Action Committee, the American Public Transportation Foundation, the American Public Transportation Foundation, the Mineta Transportation Institute, and the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy boards of directors. Kimberly is formerly a member of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Area March of Dimes. She holds membership in the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), Latinos In Transit (LIT), and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). In 2020, she had the honor of co-chairing the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) national Post COVID Mobility Restoration & Recovery Task Force. In 2019, she served on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s transportation transition team. Most recently, Kimberly was honored by the COMTO National organization as a 2022 Woman Who Moves the Nation and bestowed the Shirley A. DeLibero award. Kimberly is a native Houstonian and the proud mother of two young women forging their own paths in life.
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Dave Wong
Member at Large
Dave Wong is Vice President and currently serves as HDR’s Transportation Business Group Client Development Director. He is a dedicated and results-driven professional with a proven track record in financial management, engineering, business development and strategic planning. With 23 years of experience as a professional engineer, he is recognized for delivering high quality services in project management, budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis. Dave is adept at leveraging financial data to drive informed decision-making. He excels in collaborating with cross-functional teams to optimize financial processes and maximize organizational efficiency. Known for empowering talented professionals across the industry, Dave is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability in all financial, management and professional matters.
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Steve Granson
COMTO Houston President, Council of Presidents Representative
Steve Granson’s career in the transportation industry has traversed both public and private sector. He joined HNTB in 2018, but his passion for public transit sector began much earlier. Holding a bachelors in business administration, accounting and finance, and a masters in transportation planning, the transit industry sparked a 20-year career.
His combination of degrees provides a valuable specialization that helps clients visualize transit possibilities and how to deliver the capital resources to make them real. Because of this he’s held leadership roles on major transit projects in cities like Boston, Seattle, Chicago and more. Living in Houston, Texas, Granson helped lead the $823 million Purple Line Light Rail project for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County.
Granson is known as an expert in the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts capital funding program at HNTB. With his financial background he has developed an understanding of the program’s rules, mechanisms and policies, helping transit agencies advance projects.
Granson is also a leader within HNTB on delivering complex transit projects by bringing an array of technical and project management expertise to assist clients nationwide. Through these mega projects, Mr. Granson is able to work with small businesses, helping them gain experience and grow their capabilities.
He currently serves as President of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Houston chapter and was elected in July 2024 to COMTO’S Council of Presidents, where he works to ensure opportunities and maximum participation in the transportation industry for minority individuals, veterans, people with disabilities and certified MWDBE businesses. He’s also a 2021 graduate of the American Public Transportation Association's Executive Leadership program.
He has served as a volunteer board member for the City of Manvel Economic Development Corporation after being appointed by the city council. In this role he advocated for development and transportation infrastructure investments.
“My career in transit started with me wanting to fix our traffic issues where a live in Houston, Texas. I felt that our mass transit system needed to be expanded to reach diverse riders and customers. I decided to pursue higher education work in the public transportation industry to help make a difference where I live.”
“Key advice that I usually give is that building relationships and trust with clients, project staff, professional peers are equally as important as having the technical expertise. There are certain qualities that successful projects have, and one is having staff come together with different technical expertise and work as a connected team to deliver not only a project but something that impacts the lives of many people.”
“This may sound idealistic but when I transitioned to a career in the public transit industry, I wanted to do work that would have an impact on communities in my city, state and across the U.S. Every day I get to work on projects that will impact people directly and/or indirectly. I can wake up every morning and be happy about that reality.”
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Richard Watson
COMTO New York President, Council of Presidents Representative
Richard is the Senior Director, Labor and Employee Relations at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of NY. He is responsible for providing expert advice to managerial staff on a wide range of workforce issues for the largest mass transportation network in the country with 70,000 employees, and over 30 union contracts with 80 plus bargaining units for represented employees.
Richard has more than three decades of ever-increasing experience in transportation. He has contributed to a wide range of MTA agency-wide enterprises including service delivery, employee and labor relations, policy development, collective bargaining, and conflict/dispute resolution.
Richard possesses an impressive record of working effectively with executive leadership, senior management, and labor union officials on strategies to achieve cost savings and greater operational efficiency. He has a long record of successfully handling highly sensitive and complex workplace issues.
Richard's tenure at the MTA includes serving in several managerial and leadership roles. He was the Director of Administration and Field Operations at NYC Transit; Labor Relations Representative at Metro-North Railroad; Program Manager, Administration, and Labor at MTA Business Service Center; and Manager, Employee and Labor Relations at MTA-HQ.
Richard was awarded the MTA Chairman's Susan L. Kupferman Award for Excellence in Public Service. And, as president of COMTO-NY, he led the chapter's efforts to be recognized nationally and received the - Best Community Engagement Award.
Richard is a graduate of CUNY. He holds an MBA in Organizational Effectiveness; a Master's in Public Administration and Urban Planning and Policy; and a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts.
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Edna Stanley
COMTO Southern California President, Council of Presidents Representative Alternate
Edna Stanley
COMTO Southern California President, Council of Presidents Representative Alternate
Edna Stanley is the Vice President of Light Rail Operations at Sacramento Regional Transit District. She oversees day-to-day transportation responsibilities, and critical business and support functions, including training. Edna also directs the development of service delivery plans to efficiently manage SacRT's light rail services including daily operations, maintenance, and the Operations Control Center.
Edna has 20 years of transportation experience and has been promoted through increasingly responsible technical and supervisory positions based on expertise, demonstrated initiative, and contributions to operational safety and efficiency. She’s held almost every Bus and Rail operations position including Bus Operator, Station Manager, Train Operator, Dispatch Supervisor, Rail Operations Supervisor, Central Control Supervisor, Roadway Worker Protection Instructor, and Chief Operations Supervisor. Prior to SacRT, Edna was a Service Operations Superintendent LA Metro, the Manager of Station Operations at the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), and a Superintendent at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
Edna is a is a mentor for Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), and a member of the League of Railway Women and the APTA Rail Safety and International Rail Rodeo Committees. She previously served on the Southern California Cohort of the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE); a federal initiative focused on systematically advancing racial equity across jurisdictions nation-wide.
Edna graduated cum laude from Mary Baldwin University with BA in Business. In her spare time, she loves to bake cakes and travel around the world.