2024 WTS Annual Conference

By Ellie McCurdy, Jamie Rosen, Morgan Bassford, Regis Stinson, WTS-DC

The 2024 WTS International Annual Conference was held in New Orleans, LA this May with the theme Connecting Cultures and Communities in the Crescent City. This year, WTS-DC continued its tradition of sending chapter members to the conference by sending four members: Regis Stinson of WSP, and Ellie McCurdy, Jamie Rosen and Morgan Bassford of WMATA. What follows are their key observations, takeaways, and highlights from the Annual Conference.

EmpowHER: Navigating Advocacy, Self-Promotion, and Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Day two of the conference was full of many insightful sessions, including a conversation with Patricia Macchi, National Infrastructure Economics and Grant Advisory Practice Leader, Senior Principal, STV Inc.; Avital Barnea, Senior Executive Officer, Multimodal Integrated Planning, LA Metro; Monica Backmon, Chief Executive Officer, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority; Caroline Mays, Director of Planning and Modal Programs Texas Department of Transportation; and Lynda Tran, Partner, EpicWorks Advisors. During this session, these leaders discussed unleashing the potential of women in the professional arena, and shared profound insights on self-promotion, creating a personal brand, and embracing yourself fearlessly.

Find the gap. Discover your niche and craft your personal brand to flourish. Know that you bring value to the workplace.
Find opportunities to let people know who you are. You need to acknowledge what you bring to the table and make sure you are visibly showcasing your value. Raise your hand to try something new, volunteer to take on a new task, and don’t be afraid to self-promote.
Be your own brand. No one knows you as much as you know yourself. Embrace who you are, advocate for yourself, and live fearlessly as your true self.
Corroborate the woman who went before you. Absorb and listen to the people around you, especially women. It is so important to build up other women by championing their diverse qualities and ideas, and normalizing their uniqueness. You will never hold yourself back by standing up for and furthering other women.
You can disagree without being disagreeable. Actively listen to what others are saying, but continue to speak your mind. Stand up for yourself and your work, knowing what you have to add to the conversation is valuable and important.

Career Development Lessons from Female Executives

"Career Development Lessons from Female Executives" offered invaluable insights gleaned from the journeys of accomplished women leaders in the corporate world through their experiences, wisdom, and resilience. The panelists were Debra Johnson, GM & CEO, Regional Transportation District; Roseann Schmid, CEO, Fisher Associates; Dottie Watkins, President and CEO, CapMetro; and Alanna McKeeman, VP and Senior Project Manager, Foursquare ITP. During the session, these leaders discuss advocacy, mentorship, training, managing up, and work/life balance. From breaking through glass ceilings to balancing professional aspirations with personal commitments, their stories inspire and empower individuals at all stages of their careers.

Authenticity Matters: The panel emphasized the importance of authenticity in career development. They advocate for staying true to oneself, embracing strengths, and leveraging individuality as a competitive advantage in the corporate world.
Prioritizing Work/Life Balance: A healthy work/life balance is a key component of successful career development. They shared insights on setting boundaries, managing time effectively, and prioritizing self-care to avoid burnout and sustain long-term career growth. By prioritizing personal well-being alongside professional goals, they advocated for a holistic approach to career development that fosters fulfillment and sustainability in both professional and personal spheres.
Overcoming Challenges: From overcoming gender biases to balancing work and personal life, the panel shared strategies for navigating obstacles with resilience and determination. Their stories inspired perseverance and offered practical approaches for overcoming setbacks.
Continuous Learning: Career development is viewed as an ongoing journey of growth and learning. They emphasized the importance of seeking out opportunities for professional development, embracing feedback, and staying adaptable in the face of change.
Pay It Forward: Mentoring and supporting the next generation of women leaders is important. Advocate for creating inclusive environments, championing diversity, and actively fostering the success of others to create a more equitable workplace for all.

The Exceptions - Conversation with Author Kate Zernike, and Discussion on the Fight for Women Across Five Generations

The final day of the conference kicked off with author Kate Zernike talking about her book “The Exceptions” and the experience of women in science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who confronted the discrimination they faced. These women leaned into their skills to address the issue - using quantitative analysis to prove the discrimination they were facing. After speaking, Kate was joined by four other women representing perspectives across different generations to talk about their experiences. The women on the panel with Kate included Tammy Flemming from the US Department of Labor, Janet Walker-Ford from WSP and the 2022-2024 Chair of the WTS-I Board of Directors, Nadine Lee from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), and Katie Kalugen of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

Discrimination isn’t always overt. Just like the women of MIT, women today often face subtle discrimination over the course of their careers.
Stop treating successful women as exceptions. We need to stop thinking that only one woman (or a select few) can be successful and that their success limits the success of other women. Women should champion other women and be a support network for each other. Women are amazing, not exceptional.
Share your story. Women should be part of a group and share their story. It was only by sharing their stories that the women of MIT identified the trend of discrimination they faced and together presented their experiences to the administration to make the school admit to the discrimination. Women today still need to talk to each other and amplify each other's voices.
It takes a village. The panel discussed the need to all work together to make a systemic change. Along with this comes the need to allow others to help us. This sentiment was echoed throughout the conference as women discussed the need for work/life integration (it’s not always balanced), and the need to let others help.
It’s about belonging, not just inclusion. We need to focus not just on supporting the women at the top, but also those in lower and marginalized positions to create a space of belonging. In the transportation industry, we need to think about addressing the need of women travelers, engaging various communities, and building equity not just into policy but into practice.

In addition to empowering professional development sessions, the annual conference included programming relevant to our day-to-day jobs. FTA Deputy Associate Administrator Molly King led a panel on transit workforce development and engagement with agencies sharing success stories implementing leading-class mentorship and returning citizen support programs. Claudia Burgos, of the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, discussed building agency support for and executing a massive public engagement program during construction of a BRT system along a route affecting small, local, minority-owned businesses. In partnership with an engineering project manager who valued community engagement as an equal component of project planning and meeting agendas, they provided invaluable support to the small business feeling the impacts of temporary and permanent construction-related activity. Other topics included infrastructure funding and financing, implementing AI to enhance sustainability and equity, and introducing battery-hydrogen powered passenger rail vehicles.

The WTS-DC Chapter was well represented in conference sessions with speakers including WTS-DC President Sophie Guiny, Alanna McKeeman, Circe Tourellas, Melissa Kim, Patricia Macchi, Monica Backmon, Catherine Teebay, and WTS-DC Chapter Advisor Avital Barnea.

WTS Foundation Gala

Along with the many plenaries, panels, talks and networking events, all four women and many other WTS-DC chapter members attended the WTS Foundation Gala, one of the highlights of the conference each year. The gala was held at Mardi Gras World, where the masked attendees could wander amongst past Mardi Gras parade floats and see some still in the works. During the main program, WTS-DC nominees were honored with two of the annual Recognition Awards: the I-95 Variable Speed Limits project was the Innovative Transportation Solutions recipient of the year, and Renee N. Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Toll Road Investor Partnership II L.P (TRIP II), was named Woman of the Year! This year, WTS-I also announced the introduction of the new Jannet Walker-Ford Breaking Barriers Award. The rest of the annual Recognition Awards and scholarship recipients were honored, including a Gold Level Award for the DC chapter, as part of the Chapter Circle of Excellence Awards.

Many WTS-DC members had a great time at the conference, and we hope to see many of you at the WTS-I Annual Conference in 2025 when it goes international to Toronto, Canada!