Yvonne Lopez-Diaz

Yvonne Lopez-Diaz is a vice president at HNTB Corporation, an employee-owned infrastructure solutions firm serving public and private owners and contractors. With HNTB for 24 years, she currently serves as the firm’s National Workforce Strategist.  During her time at HNTB, Yvonne has held various roles within the company, including Director of Human Resources, where she was responsible for managing all aspects of HR strategy and operations throughout the country. As the National Workforce Strategist, Yvonne plays a crucial role in shaping and implementing workforce requirements on major projects and pursuits. She collaborates with leadership to identify the skills and expertise needed for successful project execution, and works to develop strategies for attracting and retaining top talent. Her background in the pharmaceutical industry at Bayer Corporation has provided her with a strong foundation in managing HR functions in a complex and highly regulated industry. In addition to her work at HNTB, Yvonne has been involved in various professional organizations, including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW). She is committed to staying current on industry trends and best practices, and regularly attends conferences and workshops to further her professional development.

Yvonne’s educational background and involvement in the community further demonstrate her dedication and expertise in her field. Her Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Phoenix provides her with a solid foundation in the principles and practices of HR. In addition, Yvonne's certification as an Executive Coach showcases her commitment to professional development and her ability to provide guidance and support to individuals in leadership roles. Her completion of the WTS Executive Leadership Program and the Advanced Strategy certificate program from the Chicago Booth Executive Education program further highlight her desire to enhance her strategic thinking and leadership skills. Her involvement in community and industry organizations speaks to her commitment to giving back and making a positive impact. Her service on the boards of the Seminole County Chamber of Commerce, Central Florida Zoological Society, Central Florida Community Foundation, and the Walt Disney World Dreamers & Doers Organization demonstrates her dedication to supporting local businesses, conservation efforts, philanthropy, and youth development. Furthermore, her volunteer work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Ronald McDonald House, Children's Home Society, and various community clean-up programs emphasizes her commitment to making a difference in the lives of others and improving the communities she serves. Yvonne's expertise and involvement in the engineering industry have also led to her being recognized as an expert panelist on various workforce development and planning topics. Her insights and knowledge are highly sought after by industry organizations and public agencies, further solidifying her reputation as a thought leader in her field.

Yvonne's active participation in the Womens Transportation Seminar (WTS) demonstrates her dedication to promoting women in the transportation industry.  As the first Latina Chair of the WTS Foundation Board, she takes on a key role in shaping and supporting the organization’s mission and goals.  On the WTS Foundation, Yvonne leads and participates on several committees which serve to highlight her commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within the transportation industry. Yvonne's long-standing involvement with the WTS Central Florida Scholarship Committee for more than 15 years showcases her commitment to supporting the educational pursuits of aspiring professionals in the transportation field.  Her leadership in this committee contributed to the success and impact of the scholarship program in Central Florida. Furthermore, her role as Chair of the WTS Greater NY Chapter Glass Ceiling Committee demonstrates her dedication to addressing gender disparities and barriers to women's advancement in transportation leadership roles. Through Yvonne’s leadership, the committee conducted a study to assess the representation of women in leadership positions in the metropolitan New York and New Jersey regions, with a particular emphasis on determining if there is a glass ceiling hindering their advancement and success in the industry. This research and development effort highlights Yvonne's commitment to driving change and pushing for greater gender equality in the industry.

Her involvement on the board of COMTO Central Florida further underscores her dedication to promoting diversity and equal opportunities in the transportation industry. COMTO aims to ensure that individuals from all backgrounds have the chance to advance and contribute to the field, with a focus on diverse representation at all levels.

Yvonne's achievements and recognition highlight her exceptional leadership and impact in the transportation industry. Being featured in the "Hispanic Executive" Magazine showcases Yvonne's prominence as a Latina leader on the global stage. This recognition not only highlights her accomplishments but also serves as an inspiration for other aspiring Latino professionals in the transportation field. Yvonne's commitment to nurturing young professionals within HNTB and preparing them for future leadership opportunities is commendable. By prioritizing the growth and development of young talent, she demonstrates her dedication to building a strong pipeline of future leaders within the firm. Being named one of the "Top 10 Women to Watch in Transportation" by the ENO Center for Transportation further acknowledges Yvonne's innovative ideas and positive impact on the transportation industry. This recognition indicates her ability to contribute fresh perspectives, drive change, and make a difference in the field.

Receiving the Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership award from the WTS Greater New York and Inland Empire Chapters is a testament to Yvonne's efforts in promoting diversity and supporting the advancement of underrepresented groups across the country. Her commitment to developing opportunities, promoting career advancement, and mentoring emerging leaders showcases her dedication to creating a more inclusive and equitable industry.

Yvonne was also nominated by her peers for HNTB's "Living the Vision" award a significant recognition within the firm. This nomination reflects Yvonne's embodiment of the company's values, philosophy, and culture in her daily work. It demonstrates her commitment to upholding HNTB's vision and making a meaningful impact within the organization. Overall, Yvonne's accomplishments and recognition highlight her exceptional leadership, commitment to diversity and inclusion, and positive impact within the transportation industry. Her dedication to advancing women, nurturing young professionals, and promoting diversity in the workplace makes her an influential and respected leader in her field.

Odessa Phillip

Odessa L. Philip, P.E.: President and CEO of Assedo Consulting, is a professionally licensed structural engineer, transportation professional and public engagement expert. She began her career more than 25 years ago as a structural designer and later transitioned to transportation planning, becoming a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) professional with an affinity for public engagement and education. She is an expert at bringing together state and local stakeholders, politicians, transportation officials, and communities affected by engineering, transportation, and construction projects. Over the span of her career, Odessa has worked on projects with a focus on transportation, environment, utilities, and parks/open space planning, design, and construction.

Her work educates stakeholders, appointed and elected government officials, and communities on the impacts of engineering, transportation, and construction projects.  Her mission is to improve communities through planning and equitable engagement by bringing all voices into the design and implementation of infrastructure projects.

Odessa secured a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Howard University and a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. An avid supporter of engineering and STEM education, and a longtime supporter of her alma mater, Ms. Phillip has worked as an adjunct professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Howard and sits on the Advisory Board for the Department. This is only one of the ways in which she supports encouraging and introducing more women and minorities to the field of engineering.

Karen Good

Karen Good received a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts in 2000. She has been with the City of Denver for over 17 years and is currently in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. Karen has worked on a variety of transportation projects including Corridor visioning and planning for Brighton Boulevard, Federal Boulevard and Washington Street, City coordination for CDOT’s I-70 East EIS and Speer and 23rd Bridges, Federal Boulevard’s NEPA, 14th Street Project as well as the Strategic Transportation Plan.

Karen serves on the 14th St, Brighton, and Sun Valley GID District Advisory Boards in her role with the City and is Immediate Past Chair of the WTSI Foundation.

Kelly Kaysonepheth

Kelly Kaysonepheth is the Marketing Director and Associate Vice President at AZTEC Engineering Group, Inc., a subsidiary of TYPSA Group. She brings 15 years of experience leading marketing and proposal pursuits through client outreach and creative capture planning and has secured more than $350M in design work for the transportation industry to date.

A dedicated community volunteer, Kelly has served on the boards for several nonprofit organizations, including chapter president of WTS Metropolitan Phoenix (2018/19). The core of her community service has been concentrated on advancing women’s leadership development opportunities, STEM programming and mentoring first-generation and low-income students to reach their fullest potential. Kelly is recognized within the industry and the community. She has been nominated for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce’s ATHENA Award, recognized as 40 Under 40 by the Phoenix Business-Journal and named to Engineering News-Record in its 2019 Top 20 Under 40 Outstanding Young Professionals in the Southwest Region.

Kelly is a graduate of Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, where she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. degree in English.

Danielle Smith

Danielle Smith, PE is the West Region Director for Triunity, Inc. She has seasoned professional experience in public transportation project delivery, encompassing project and program management and the design of highway, light rail and traffic-related projects. Danielle was intimately involved in the nationally recognized RTD multi-modal project T-REX and the RTD FasTracks projects. Her experience includes program management, stakeholder coordination, highway and light rail design, utility coordination, project controls, cost estimating, and project coordination.

Danielle is a competent and skilled leader that will enhance any project or team at a company. She has great communication skills and the ability to lead teams to implement projects and bring them to completion with high satisfaction. She also has been the Discipline leads of office departments where she manages the day-to-day activities and staff utilization on projects.

Jennifer Duval

Jen Duval has spent the last two decades as a transportation leader at Jacobs, working with clients and teams to advance the field and adapt to change. She currently serves as the Americas East Region Transportation Solutions Leader as well as the Department Leader for Rail & Transit in the East Central geography. In these roles, she’s responsible for talent development, market growth, technical excellence, and innovation. Prior to Jacobs, Jen was a City Planner with the City of San Diego.

Jen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Mary Washington College and a Masters of City of Planning from San Diego State University. Jen has been involved with WTS throughout her career, having served in various roles on the WTSF Board and with the Philadelphia Chapter. 

Emmanuella Myrthil

Emmanuella is the Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer · Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), and the former Diversity Division Director for HNTB's Southeast Division. In this role, she worked to engage, empower and elevate historically underutilized businesses seeking to do business with local and state government partners.

She utilizes creative and engaging strategies to impact inclusion of minority businesses and diversify small business participation in transportation projects throughout the Southeast. She creates connections with clients and stakeholders across cultural differences to address community and business needs.

Emmanuella began her transportation career more than 15 years ago with Georgia Department of Transportation where she worked as a Public Relations/Communications Specialist, a NEPA specialist and a Program Manager at the Transportation Management Center.  

Today Emmanuella works to change business as usual practices to remove barriers and expand access for minority businesses. She leverages both internal and external resources to ensure creative business solutions that achieve multiple advantages for all involved.

She is the Chair of ACEC Georgia’s Inclusion & Diversity Task Force and has facilitated dynamic learning experiences for ACEC GA's Future Leaders' Program.

Emmanuella holds a degree in Journalism from the State University of New York at New Paltz and is a two-time author and workshop creator of Journey of the Journal.

Avital Barnea

Avital Barnea is Senior Executive Officer for Multimodal Integrated Planning at LA Metro in Los Angeles, CA. She is an active WTS member, currently serving as a Director on the WTS Foundation Board, and previously served as President of the Washington, DC Chapter as well as in other WTS volunteer roles.

At LA Metro, Avital leads a staff of 50 transportation professionals in the areas of active transportation, complete streets & highways, regional rail, goods movement, long-range planning, transportation demand management, and parking. Her previous experience includes roles at the federal, state, and local levels, including the governor-appointed position of Deputy Secretary for Transportation Planning at the California State Transportation Agency and jobs with the US Department of Transportation and US Senate.

Avital holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography, both from the University of Minnesota.

Christine Skinner

Christi Skinner recently retired with more than 30 years’ experience in the transportation industry. She finished her professional career as a Senior Vice President and Transportation Client Development Director for an ENR Top 5 design firm specializing in engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services. In this role, Christi helped set the vision for the transportation practice, created and applied programs and processes across all geographies and provided tactical leadership of the team of individuals focused on securing the firm’s most complex, game-changing projects across all modes of transportation.

Christi is a long-time member of WTS, and this is her third term on the WTS Foundation board. She splits her time between Olympia, WA and Phoenix, AZ.

Patricia Macchi

Patricia is a vice president at STV. She serves as the national director of infrastructure economics and grants advisory, bringing with her over two decades of experience providing financial leadership for architecture, engineering, and consulting firms, as well as international organizations, including the World Bank. Patricia has demonstrated expertise in furnishing benefit-cost analysis (BCA), economic impact assessments, and economics and financial modeling for complex multimodal infrastructure efforts. She spearheaded the development of a user-friendly dashboard at STV, providing clients with a streamlined grants discovery process to maximize project planning and funding capabilities. Her guidance is highly valued by clients in forming funding strategies for zero-emission vehicle transitions and sustainability.

Patricia is an exemplar for education, scholarships, and career opportunities in transportation. Drawing from her journey, she aims to inspire women from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in transportation. In 2022, she founded the STV Women's Network employee resource group (ERG) and has since continued to lead it. As Chair, she ensures women have resources and support for professional growth and communicates progress to company leadership, fostering an inclusive culture aligned with organizational goals.

She has authored several published papers, articles, and books about transportation economics and funding. Patricia holds a BS in Economics from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a MA in Economics from Boston University. She is an active member of the WTS-DC chapter, a member of the WTSI Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Committee, and currently serves on the WTS Foundation Board of Directors.

At present, she and her husband proudly raise a teenage daughter and twin preteen boys in Northern Virginia.

Melissa Mullinax

Melissa Mullinax is the Chief of Staff and Chief Administrative office for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). She serves as a trusted advisor to the CEO/GM to strengthen the MARTA brand, execute key business strategies and implement Agency-wide policies. Ms. Mullinax leads the departments of Government Affairs, Marketing and Communications, Human Resources, Labor Relations, and Diversity and Inclusion. An executive with more than twenty years of experience working on government affairs, public engagement, policy and communications, Ms. Mullinax builds and fosters trusting and longstanding business relationships with Board of Directors, business partners and elected officials to advance public transit in the Atlanta region. Before joining MARTA, Ms. Mullinax served for six years on Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s senior leadership team.

Melissa is active in civic and policy communities at the local and national level.  She serves as a Trustee on the MARTA/ATU Local 732 Pension Fund, a member of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ Housing Strike Force and on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Council. She previously served on the National Steering Committee for Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility (formerly RailVolution) and was a member of the Workforce Development Council, US Conference of Mayors from 2016-2017.

Melissa is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Atlanta. She received a Bachelor of Arts with honors in political science from Agnes Scott College. An Atlanta native and Grady baby, she lives in Midtown Atlanta with her husband and two children.

Mandy Putney

Mandy Putney is the Strategic Initiatives Director at the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Urban Mobility Office. With more than 20 years of experience working at the intersection of policy, community, and environmental change, Mandy strives to develop and deliver transportation projects and initiatives that reflect community needs and produce equitable and measurable outcomes.

Currently, Mandy is responsible for managing transportation policy, project development, investment prioritization and extensive stakeholder communication and coordination. She successfully brought the agency’s largest contract ever to bid, including requirements for hiring DBE firms, Tribal members, and residents of economically distressed zip codes. Mandy develops, implements, and communicates complex work plans for “mega-projects” as they are evaluated, designed, and permitted in a highly politicized environment.

Mandy has a M.A. degree from the Antioch University Seattle Environment and Community Program, certifications from the International Association of Public Participation, and the Oregon Project Management Certification Program. She has served on the WTS Puget Sound and Portland chapter boards and is an active Mentor with the Portland chapter. She was recognized as the 2019 WTS Portland Woman of the Year and as a 2021 Daily Journal of Commerce Woman of Vision.

Mandy lives in Portland, Oregon, with her partner, Heather, and “tween” Sequoia.

Adrienne Williams

Adrienne Williams is the Director of Supplier Diversity and Community Outreach, Southern Region for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. In this role, she works to engage, empower, and elevate women and minority-owned businesses seeking to do business with McCarthy. She brings 15 years of experience working with local, state, and federal for public, private, and non-profit organizations. Her experience includes working for 3 ENR top 20 prime contractors in both commercial and civil construction.

She has collaborated with multi-disciplinary teams providing strategy for diversity programs, community relations, workforce development, contract compliance, and public outreach for a wide range of complex billion-dollar, alternative-delivery infrastructure projects. This has allowed Adrienne to manage people and projects to utilize a strategic approach that has produced positive results for her employer, client, and the community.

Adrienne is often sought out by leaders across the industry for her insight, knowledge and thought leadership in areas around inclusion, diversity and equity, and small business growth and development in the construction industry. She has been involved in various organizations, most recently serving on the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) subcommittee, as well as chapter president of WTS Greater Dallas/Ft. Worth (19/20). She currently serves on the Executive Committee as the Chair of Transportation & Mobility for the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce.

In 2023, she was the recipient of the WTS Greater Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapter’s Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award. In 2017, she was appointed to the City of Desoto (TX) Charter Review Commission and previously served on the Association of General Contractors (AGC of Texas) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Committee for more than 10 years.

Adrienne holds a Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Texas in Arlington, with a concentration in Public Policy. Adrienne is enthusiastic about growing young professionals in transportation and the construction industry and continues to volunteer her time with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs and activities.