An Equity Investment: Making a Career out of Leveling the Playing Field

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Honoring former USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood for his profound contributions to transportation, the WTS-LA Honorable Ray LaHood Award credits a man in transportation whose contribution measures up to this incredibly high standard. Former Metro Chief Program Management Officer Rick Clarke has exceeded that level of excellence throughout his storied career.

For more than four decades, Clarke traveled the nation developing alternative project delivery on signature projects in New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Los Angeles. Holding both public and private sector roles, Clarke continually innovated, bringing multi-billion-dollar-plus transit and infrastructure projects to successful completion. That alone is astonishing. But that was not enough for Clarke. While reinventing project delivery, Clarke also worked determinedly to support, encourage, and advance women and minorities in the transportation industry. Consider his most recent work at Metro.

Overseeing the management and implementation of the largest transportation program in the U.S.—Metro’s $20 billion capital program—Clarke transformed Metro’s Program Management Group from having two women managers to more than 10 women in executive and/or project management roles. In fact, this is the first time in Metro history where women are playing such a prominent leadership role in support of a megaproject. Though credit also rightly goes to CEO Phil Washington, current Chief Program Management Officer, Bryan Pennington and Senior Executive Officer Sameh Ghaly—and Clarke is quick to deflect credit to them—Clarke deserves considerable credit for actions he took to help make this happen.

According to Metro Project Management Oversight Deputy Executive Officer Julie Owen, Clarke made a very real difference, as he’s done everywhere he’s worked. “Rick was instrumental in increasing women executive representation…He truly believed in the power of diversity on teams, and it was evident in his department. I was personally promoted to Deputy Executive Officer (DEO) under Rick’s tenure, and I was the first female DEO in my department. He also hired and/or promoted to officers the first female executives in quality, regional rail, and four mega project managers.”

It would be easy to think, “But that’s just one person’s experience.” It’s not. In fact, numerous women came forward to offer similar praise. There just isn’t enough room to print them all. But on cursory glance, at least 11 women in the Program Management Group credit Clarke for advancing them to officer status. But his influence didn’t stop there.

In addition to the Program Management Group, Clarke also supported and encouraged the likes of Metro Chief Communications Officer Yvette Rapose, Metro Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer Debra Avila, and former Metro Chief of Staff Nadine Lee, who recently advanced to Dallas Area Rapid Transit CEO. Delivering signature megaprojects while promoting and advancing women and minorities would be enough for several careers. But it was not enough for Clarke.

In addition to his work, Clarke also served as a longtime advocate for WTS in both Los Angeles and Denver, contributing his time, wisdom, expertise, and funds, particularly for scholarships. Everyone who worked with Clarke remarked on his “fairness, generosity of time, and open-door policy.” And his contributions were not limited to WTS. Clarke worked with numerous organizations striving to improve equity in the transportation industry. But he also did the same at Metro.

Through Metro’s Leadership Academy (where 50% of participants are women) and Workforce Initiative Now-Los Angeles (a workforce development program), and the Program Management Group’s Diversity Council (created by Clarke), Clarke helped ensure that equity would be institutionalized. In short, if there was a way for Clarke to help level the playing field everywhere he worked, he did it. And if there wasn’t a way, he created one. For all these reasons and so many more, WTS-LA happily names him the 2021 WTS-LA Honorable Ray LaHood Award winner.