WTS-Boston would like to recognize our 2020 and 2021 Emerging Professionals featured below. Please see below to read more about each of their reflections on the program.

 

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Ruth Nan, P.E.

Signal Engineer, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
 

Community
As a millennial professional who began my career in transportation but then took a long hiatus from the field, I heard about an engaging group of women in the field of transportation through a contractor friend when I was working on the Fenway Portal Project. At the time, I cursorily considered, “Oh! That seems like a nice, supportive group that I could perhaps join when I get a little more settled in my new job and new city.” Shortly afterward, however, I got an e-mail blast to apply for the Women Transportation Seminar’s Emerging Professionals program and decided to apply for the opportunity during the pandemic.

I had missed the camaraderie and companionship of women working in a male-dominated field because my previous positions had always allowed me at least another lady with whom to chat, go out for coffee, or discuss work ideas whereas I was the only woman in my department. When I joined WTS, it provided me an entire sector of women that I could do all those things with, albeit virtually for a year.

When I was matched with my advisor, Anna Barry, I was thrilled to find out that she had worked at the MBTA a few moons ago, and she knew the ins-and-outs of the MBTA and the experiences that came with working for the T. She recommended that I reach out to other women at the T or in the field of signaling, to do an informal project of picking their brains and discussing various matters and situations that I had encountered in my tenure thus far. Through her encouragement and after a few connections were made through a WTS book club, I arranged for a virtual meet and greet with a couple of other women in HNTB Signals, Tracy Lebel and Abby Rodgers, and we were able to get fresh perspectives from each other as well as discuss the role of contractors working on behalf of the MBTA. I learned much about the industry by meeting the people behind the curtain and found them delightfully down-to-earth and knowledgeable.

I was able to support a couple of events put on by the Special Projects team and get my feet wet with WTS. I look forward to more in-person events as the world returns to a new normal, but I also enjoy the hybrid interactions of virtual and in-person activities. The end of October marked one year from when I had first heard about WTS and began the application process for the Emerging Professionals program, and I celebrated it by grabbing a lunch with Anna. The time was very casual, and I really enjoyed the time together.

This year was a historically unprecedented year for the MBTA. Not only did we get hit with the pandemic, but we have never had so many simultaneous capital improvement and greenfield projects on all of the lines. Having a tribe of WTS members and acquaintances kept me grounded and provided relief from the daily stresses of working in all conditions for weeks on end at Reservoir, Riverside, GLX, Davis, and Alewife. WTS’s EP program has been a godsend for community and sanity, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a way to make connections and experiences in the transportation community.

 

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Fangyun Xi

transportation Program Planner, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
 

Challenge Never Ends
Ever since I was young, I always dreamed of becoming an engineer. I still remember the night when my parents and I had a conversation about what I want to study in college. My mom suggested I should study finance or accounting since it would lead to an easier life than engineering in her mind. I told her that I wanted to be an engineer like my dad, regardless of the amount of time I would spend on the road for the job. I had a different idea of what engineer’s work consisted of at that point in time. This choice led to seven years of studying civil engineering and three years working in the transportation field. No matter the challenges I faced, including moving to and studying in a country where I did not know anyone, I have not regretted it once.

It was challenging to study and work in a different language, a different culture, and learn different systems. Although I experienced difficulties at the beginning, I am fortune enough now to always have people around me to encourage, train, and share experience with me. My supervisor at MassDOT, Lisa Schletzbaum, recommended I apply for the WTS EP program. She is always patient while teaching and working with me. She has helped me become a more optimistic and hard-working person. I have learned how to get a better grasp on a healthy work life balance from Lisa and I am very thankful for her to be my supervisor. She has become an important mentor to me and my career.

I enjoy every meeting with my fellow WTS-Boston Diversity Committee members. We have a virtual meeting every month to summarize our previous work and share new work updates to every member. We can share our personal feelings about life and work while supporting each other. This group of people has allowed me to share my feelings and experiences when I otherwise could not share with people due to the pandemic.

I am blessed to also have Allison Sweeney as my Emerging Professional (EP) mentor. She works at the MBTA’s Capital Programs Department in Transit-Oriented Development. She has been with WTS as a member for fifteen years.  Due to the pandemic, we have not been able to meet in person, but I am happy to be able to talk to her virtually. The first time we met, we shared why we chose a career in transportation. She told me that since her father was also a MBTA employee she had seen and heard good things about the MBTA when she was growing up. I was surprised and excited because the reason why I also chose this industry was from the influence of my dad. Working for the transportation industry and contributing to society has always given me a sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm. It is a way to connect countries, communities, and people. I think that this little common denominator of Allison and I is a very magical thing.

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This past June, Allison invited Laurie Carlson from MassDOT, Katie Kalugin, and Leah Grodstein who are other women from the EP program, and me to visit the Green Line Extension (GLX). We were guided around the field construction area, the raised bypath for pedestrian and bikes, and the inspection house. We were guided by MBTA employee Terrence McCarthy (Deputy Program Manager for Stakeholder Engagement – GLX), and GLX project team consultants Roger Alcott (Weston & Sampson) and Martin Nee (City Point Partners). This 4.7 miles Green Line Extension will extend the northern end of the Green Line from Lechmere to Union Square in Somerville and College Avenue in Medford, and the projected completion will be Spring 2022. By supporting an increased ridership of more than 50,000 trips per day, this project will significantly reduce vehicle emissions on the road, reduce the number of vehicles on local roads to improve traffic concerns, support municipal plans for sustainability and urban redevelopment. At the point when we visited this project, it was 98% design done and 79% construction done. I was ecstatic to be able to visit this project before it is opened to the public. It was a great opportunity to meet all the engineers and GLX project team, and to learn about work in different transportation fields.

I hope that I will have the chance to participate in more WTS luncheons and board meetings in person in the next year. I want to be able to share and discuss more traffic related insights and knowledge with WTS engineers. I have work experience from both
the America and China Transportation industry and believe my knowledge of how the
public transportation system works in China can also bring inspiration to WTS-Boston.

 

 

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Katie Kalugin

Transit Equity Programs Specialist, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
 

Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
I was grateful to be one of the Emerging Professionals in 2020 and even more grateful to have my EP experience extended into 2021. My 2020 EP year was guided by the strong and committed mentorship of Gina Solman and I knew that 2021 would be another opportunity to strive toward progress and change despite the same challenges of the prior year (i.e. working from home during a pandemic).

I knew that in 2021, for example, I wanted to take an active role as a member of the Diversity Committee after a year that exacerbated and highlighted the inequities around us. I immediately took ownership of drafting a gender inclusivity statement that the Chapter could use to be more explicit about its values of inclusion and diversity. Specifically, I wanted to help make it clear to transgender and gender non-conforming individuals that they are a welcomed and respected part of the WTS community. I drafted a statement through the support of my fellow committee members, which was eventually reviewed by International’s DEI group. What I learned by working on this statement and collecting feedback from International is that a much broader DEI statement was necessary to affirm the organization’s overall embrace of people of all genders, races, ethnicities, ages, sectors, etc. I feel good knowing that a stronger, more inclusive position by the organization at large is forthcoming and that we have the support of leadership (both at the International and Chapter levels) to shine a light on our shared values to continue building a diverse membership.

My second year in the program has really allowed me to make new connections and learn from my peers. I participated in the EP GLX tour coordinated by Allison Sweeney and got to meet my fellow EPs in-person for the first time. As a group, we marveled at the complexities and structure of a massive, multi-year transportation project. It has been a pleasure getting to know the other EPs during our group check-ins and committee meetings – everyone is so dedicated to their work and growth in their respective areas of focus.

The intentional mentorship provided through the EP program has been invaluable – I’ve had the dedicated space and time to meet with someone who is experienced in the field to set and track progress toward my career goals. I’ve confidently taken on new leadership and professional development opportunities and continue to set more ambitious goals.

A huge thank you to Margo English for meeting with me regularly this year to chat about life and work, as well as sharing her experiences navigating her career and work-life balance.

I look forward to the years ahead with WTS-Boston.

 

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Leah Grodstein 

Civil Engineer II, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
 

On Confidence
I’ve never been outgoing, or particularly confident. I applied for the WTS Emerging Professionals program because a colleague told me I should, and I submitted the application less than an hour before it was due because I was finding it hard to talk myself up. When I attended the first meeting and met my fellow EPs, I was amazed by how smart and confident they were. What was I doing in this group? I had to set goals for my year as an EP, so I decided to try and work on my confidence with the help of my advisor, Laurie Carlson.

Laurie and I picked three concrete tasks that might help me reach my goal of increasing my professional confidence. Task one was reading the WTS Book Club book The Confidence Code to understand the obstacles women face when speaking up for themselves in the workplace. Task two was asking for meeting materials in advance, so I could feel better prepared for meetings and might be more willing to speak up during them. Task three was asking my supervisor for a review, so I could get a more objective view of how I was doing in my first year in the professional world, and maybe drown out my own negative inner thoughts. All I had to do was accomplish the tasks.

… Or so I thought. I read the book, got the meeting materials, and had my performance review. I understood that women need to speak up without fear of consequence from my reading, I felt more prepared for meetings armed with the supplemental materials, and my supervisor assured me in our review that he thought I was doing quite well. Even so, when I spoke up, I backed down immediately when someone disagreed with me. When supervisors or colleagues complimented me, I demurred and told myself that they were just being nice and didn’t mean it. The confidence still wasn’t there, even after completing all of my carefully laid out steps.

After three or four months of minimal success, things finally clicked when my department added three summer interns and four new graduates to our staff. I remembered starting a new job as a remote worker and how I was scared to reach out when I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing. I offered my help to the new staff and sent them my contact information. One of the interns did contact me, and I sent her some guides and reading that I thought would have helped me in the first couple weeks of work. Was that confidence? It may have been the beginning. I found that I knew the answers to a lot of the questions the new staff had. Beyond that, I knew what sorts of projects would be good for new hires based on my own, recent experience, so I started finding and assigning work for them.

When I had younger staff coming to me with questions about projects that I had assigned, I started noticing a real change. I felt like I needed to display confidence, perhaps because I did not want to model “bad” behavior or perhaps to offset the fact that I was helping to manage people who were only a year younger than me. Whatever the real reason may have been, I started seeing and feeling real results in my professional life.

What are the takeaways from my journey? I am only one person, and everybody’s path will be different. But for me, the steps I laid out with Laurie did not work immediately. What they did was build a strong foundation for me. The book gave me an understanding of what I was trying to accomplish, the meeting materials allowed me to discuss a subject knowledgably, and both my advisors and my boss gave me constant encouragement. Once that foundation was in place, I needed an extra push to get my confidence to come out: the responsibility of managing new staff.

Although my year as a WTS Emerging Professional has been unusual compared to the other EP’s before me, I am grateful for the foundation I’ve built with the help of my advisors at WTS. I have become a more confident professional while enjoying the WTS benefits of remote networking and virtual lunch and learns. I even got to meet other WTS members and fellow EPs on a tour of the Green Line Extension Project! As my year as an EP wraps up, I am looking forward to staying involved with WTS and helping other new members build that same strong foundation that can help them achieve their professional goals.

 

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Ambar Johnson

Ambar is the Program Director for LivableStreets, overseeing Vision Zero, Better Buses, and managing all aspects of the Emerald Network including advocacy, project oversight, and technical assistance. Ambar's work is guided by history, mobility, justice, and her belief that "transportation is freedom" to create abundant, safe and accessible infrastructure and options. Previously, she served as a transportation planner at VHB, leading technical analysis for a range of transit feasibility studies and comprehensive plans in the Southeast. Before that, she worked with the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and her neighbors to expand Relay Bike Share by using transportation as a tool for community building.