Bridgette Beato

Bridgette Beato is an accomplished entrepreneur and leader, known for her contributions to the transportation industry. As the Founder and CEO of Lumenor Consulting Group, she has established a reputable firm specializing in various aspects of transportation, such as Program Management/Project Control, Environmental and Transportation Planning, GIS, and Asset Management. Since its inception in 2007, Lumenor has demonstrated expertise in serving the largest transit and transportation agencies across the United States, as well as Fortune 500 companies.

In addition to her role at Lumenor, Bridgette has been actively involved in fostering diversity and empowering women in the transportation sector. Her leadership extends beyond her business ventures to her involvement with organizations like WTS International, where she has served on the Board of Directors since 2018 and held the position of WTS Foundation Board Treasurer from 2020 to 2022. Through these roles, she has advocated for women-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, while also dedicating time to mentorship initiatives.

Bridgette's impact transcends her professional endeavors; she has contributed her expertise to academia as well. Her role as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University/The National Transit Institute underscores her commitment to knowledge dissemination and educational advancement within the transportation field. Through her authored and delivered courses, she has shared insights and best practices with future industry professionals.

Bridgette's dedication and excellence have been recognized through various awards and accolades. Notably, she was honored with the 2020 Railway Age Women in Rail Awards, highlighting her leadership within the rail sector. Additionally, her commitment to creating exceptional workplace environments was acknowledged with the 2020 Exceptional Companies to Work For award. Furthermore, her inclusion in the 100 Women of Influence in Georgia from 2019 to 2024 is a testament to her enduring impact and leadership within the state.

Overall, Bridgette Beato's professional journey is characterized by a steadfast commitment to excellence, advocacy for women, and a passion for advancing the transportation industry. Her multifaceted contributions as a business leader, mentor, educator, and advocate are aimed to inspire others.

Erin Slayton

As HDR’s Transportation Program Management Director, Erin N. Slayton, Vice President, has extensive experience in alternative delivery, business development and cross-sector engagement. Her 21-year tenure in the industry has given her the opportunity to establish trust and respect that creates healthy professional environments among her client and project teams. Erin leverages HDR’s wide range of services, coordinating staffing and service excellence. Her experience working on complex, multi-billion-dollar programs across North America allows her to guide teams on the delivery of holistic, value-added services throughout the project lifecycle.

A licensed Professional Engineer in California, Washington, Arizona and South Carolina, Erin is also a Designated Design-Build Professional®, an Envision™ Sustainability Professional and Vice Chair of the Civil Engineering Advisory Board at The Citadel. Erin is often sought out by leaders across the industry for her insight, knowledge and participation in areas around inclusion, diversity and equity. She chairs HDR’s Transportation Inclusion Diversity and Equity Committee and recently held regional leadership positions in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

Erin is an active member of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), most recently serving as a Director-At-Large for the WTS-SC chapter, where she is a proud chartering member. 

Jannet Walker-Ford

Jannet Walker-Ford is a nationally recognized transportation industry executive with WSP USA, a leading engineering and professional services consultancy. Walker-Ford has more than two decades of diverse experience in technology, mobility and transportation systems. In her role with WSP, she serves as the senior vice president & national transit and rail leader and is responsible for leading and growing the firm’s business in the national transit and rail markets and establishing strategies that will position WSP for major advisory, planning, design, program management and construction management assignments. 

Prior to this appointment, Walker-Ford served as a senior vice president for the Americas transit market sector at an international engineering services firm where she was responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of the transit market in North and South America, and previously as a vice president of government relations for a technology firm where she provided transportation focused, executive-level bi-partisan collaboration with elected officials at all levels of government, as well as trade industry associations and non-profit organizations. She has served in an executive leadership capacity on programs and projects for large transit and transportation agencies across the U.S., including a public-private partnership for the Massachusetts Bay Area Transportation Agency and a multi-billion-dollar capacity enhancement program for the Philadelphia International Airport. During her tenure with the public sector, Walker-Ford served as the Deputy General Manager/Deputy CEO as well as the Chief Information Officer at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, where she led the implementation of the regional smart card fare collection system, the first of its kind in north America.  

Walker Ford is a graduate of the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems, Central Michigan University with a master’s degree in business administration. She has completed significant coursework towards her doctorate in information systems from Nova Southeastern University.  

She serves on numerous diverse boards including as board chair of the American Public Transportation Foundation, is a board member of the American Public Transportation Association, ENO Transportation Advisory Board, a member of the Jacksonville University Board of Trustees, and is chair of the Greater Jacksonville Cultural Council Board. Additionally, Walker-Ford serves as the Vice Chair of ITS America’s Sustainability & Resiliency Committee and is also a member of the IT Senior Management Forum and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and is an Alumnus of Leadership APTA and the ENO Executive Leadership program. 

Walker-Ford has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the 2019 Women of Color STEM Technology All-Star Award, the 2019 Miami Women Who Rock’s National Business Achievement Award, the 2019 Transportation Diversity Council/Massachusetts Institute of Technology honoree for Services to the Transportation Industry, and a 2019 Conference of Minority Transportation Officials’ Women Who Move the Nation honoree. 

Karen Philbrick

Karen Philbrick is the executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San José State University. MTI leads three competitively selected multi-university consortia: the California State University Transportation Consortium, the Mineta Consortium for Transportation Mobility, and the Climate Change and Extreme Events Training and Research Program.

She has been appointed four times by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (Secretaries LaHood, Foxx, Chao, and most recently Buttigieg) to sit on the USDOT Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS). Dr. Philbrick also has the privilege of serving as the President of the Research and Education Division (RED) of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), where she also sits on the ARTBA Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Dr. Phillbrick is part of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committees on “Transit Safety and Security” and “Passenger Rail Transportation”. She currently co-chairs the TCRP F-29 panel “Mental Health, Wellness, and Resilience for Transit System Workers”.

With an eye toward seamless and equitable transportation for all, Karen also serves the industry through elected positions on the boards of APTA, the International Transportation Learning Center, and NASA's Academic Mission Services Science and Technology Council. She was an appointed advisor to APTA’s Mobility Recovery and Restoration Task Force.

Committed to recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in transportation, Dr. Philbrick also serves on the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) International Board. A frequently invited keynote speaker, she has delivered federal congressional briefings and invited testimony to the California Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees.

Dr. Philbrick has received many prestigious awards for leadership excellence and outstanding contributions to her field. She holds a PhD from the University of Denver and advanced degrees from Columbia University.

Inez Evans

A recognized trailblazer in public transit, Inez Evans leads the WSP National Bus Practice with a focus on building strong, resilient communities through the planning and delivery of equitable, FutureReady transit solutions. Prior to joining WSP, Evans served as the first Black woman President and CEO of IndyGo, the largest transit agency in Indiana, with 800 employees, a fleet of more than 200 vehicles and an annual budget of more than $210 million. She is a champion for bus rapid transit (BRT) and Zero Emission Buses (ZEB) and ushered in IndyGo’s first all-electric line, the Red Line. Her efforts on the agency’s 2nd BRT route, the Purple Line project, brought increased transit service and infrastructure to provide new opportunities and growth for an entire community.

Beginning her 30-year career in transit as a customer service representative in a transit agency call center, Evans held positions of  increasing scope and responsibility with Austin-based Star Tran, San Jose-based Veolia Transportation and MV Transportation in Fairfield, California before becoming Director of Transportation for the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transportation Authority (MARTA) and Chief Operations Officer for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). She earned advanced degrees culminating in a doctorate degree in business management and leadership while working full-time.

Ms. Evans has a deep and thorough understanding of transit agency missions and goals to meet critical needs of unique communities. Her decades of experience at all levels of transit agencies informs her work at WSP where she leads a national practice of experts in all aspects of transit bus planning, implementation, operations, program management and strategy. She serves as a strategic advisor on innovation, operations, capital improvements, equity and sustainability to WSP transit clients throughout the country and around the globe.

Known for her commitment to developing the next generation of transit leaders, she recruited emerging leaders to the IndyGo executive team and is committed to supporting the growth of WSP professionals as well as mentoring and supporting emerging leaders in public transit. She serves as an American Public Transportation Association (APTA) board member and a committee member for Leadership APTA, a program that grooms transit professionals aspiring to become leaders within their organizations. In addition, Ms. Evans serves on the WTS International Executive Board and was recognized as 2022 WTS International Woman of the Year and the 2021 WTS Indianapolis Woman of the Year. She is a Director for the Indianapolis Arts Council Board of Directors, serving on its diversity and inclusion committee, a board member of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Chair for the American Heart Association’s Circle for Red Committee and was appoint. In 2019, she was appointed by Mayor Hogsett to the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee Board of Directors.