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As I wrap up my term as Chapter President, I am pleased with what WTS-Boston has accomplished. The past two years were certainly full of changes, challenges, and perseverance. After a long stretch of virtual events, we are slowly returning to host in-person events.

I’d like to acknowledge our leadership and volunteers for all their time and expertise given to WTS-Boston. Thank you for being such an important part of WTS-Boston and helping us continue our mission to attract, sustain, connect, and advance women’s careers to strengthen the transportation industry, and our vision for equity and access for women in transportation. I am honored to be working with such an amazing group of women who continue to strive to maintain and improve Chapter operations and programming.

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As a Chapter, we focused on maintaining a strong presence during the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic by continuing all our programming and events in a mostly hybrid environment. We focused on providing an environment of inclusion and diversity that is welcoming, accepting, safe, supportive, and free of judgement. We published monthly DE&I articles that help bring awareness to a variety of topics. We also focused on increasing the number of student chapters and our future membership pipeline, by nurturing our long-standing UMass Amherst student chapter and working with UMass Lowell and Harvard to help form new student chapters.

As we conclude 2022 and many get ready for a break during the holidays, I would like to close with an excerpt from my December Luncheon / Annual Meeting speech:

For the past 22 years, I have been actively involved in the WTS-Boston Chapter. I am still in awe that I am wrapping up my term as Chapter President.  I cannot image where I would be if it wasn’t for the colleagues, mentors, and friends I have made from being involved in this great organization. 

There are so many of you that have inspired me over the years, especially Lisa Brothers and Mary Jane O’Meara - thank you both for your advice and guidance over the past 20 years, your time and willingness to help directly encouraged me to stay actively involved. Thank you for always being there!  I am grateful to my Stantec colleagues, especially Peter Howe, Jen Ducey, and Dennis Reip who have always been so supportive of my involvement with WTS over the past 13 ½ years. 

I would especially like to thank our soon to be Past-Past President, Sarah Dennechuk, and our incoming President, Gina Solman.

Sarah, thank you for your continued guidance over the years. As I’ve said before, you always focused on keeping our Chapter in motion, encouraging everyone to continue with business as usual and to think outside the box so we could offer meaningful and relevant programming and we were certainly able to continue that momentum.

Gina, I am so excited for the journey you are about to begin as Chapter President. I have complete confidence that you will continue to lead the Chapter to great things. We worked closely over the past few years and made a great team.  I know you will continue that with your Vice President, Sarah Bergman. 

Hope you all have a happy, healthy, safe holiday season!

Take care,

Marie J. Sullivan, PE

WTS-Boston President

Principal, Stantec