WTSCFL - Fantastic Annual Banquet
WTS Central Florida hosts 24th Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet
WTS Central Florida welcomed over 170 attendees at Sea World's Port of Call ballroom for its 24th Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet on September 30. Banquet guests enjoyed a unique experience with special guests from several Sea World residents, including a majestic bald eagle and surprisingly charismatic sloth, during the networking cocktail hour.
The highlight of the evening included recognizing scholarship recipients and award winners, before an inspiring and motivational keynote speech from Loreen Bobo, Safety Administrator for FDOT’s District 5. During her keynote, Loreen shared what motivates her in role, while challenging each of us to continue the work toward making Florida’s roads safer for all.
- Be bold! Think big! Make a difference!
- Let's work together to reach our goal - zero fatalities on our roadways!
Thank you to our chapter’s Scholarship Chairs, Sherry Ann Tulloch and Francina Gill, along with our Recognitions Chairs, Courtney Reynolds and Kelly Eger-Smith for leading this year’s scholarship and awards process. Special thanks to Banquet Chair, Barbi Stiles and the entire banquet committee for another successful event. Committee members included:
- Banquet Committee: Barbi Stiles, Ivannia Bok, Maria Bolivar, Yasmin Moreno, Courtney Reynolds, Kelda Senior, Sherry Ann Tulloch
- Scholarship Committee: Francina Gil, Sherry Ann Tulloch, Lana Lawrence, Dawn Ratican, Christy Lofye
- Recognitions Committee: Courtney Reynolds, Kelly Eger-Smith, Maria Bolivar, Caitlin Smith
2021 Frankee Hellinger Memorial Scholarship Recipients
Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship: Agathe Emeran, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Agathe is currently a Sophomore at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is slated for graduation in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Air Traffic Management/Air Transportation with minors in Applied Meteorology and International History. Additionally, she is working to attain her private pilot's license. Agathe is a member of Iota Alpha Tau and the Emerging Leaders Program, as well as the Air Traffic Control Organization at her school. Dedication to her studies (Dean’s list: Fall of 2020 and Spring of 2021) with a 3.8 GPA, as well as commitment to volunteering (recent work at the Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens through the Emerging Leaders Program) and her desire to be challenged in a bigger aviation environment upon graduation are key aspects for this award.
Leadership Undergraduate Scholarship: Samantha Kusters, University of Florida
Samantha is a Senior at the University of Florida and is working on achieving her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers – Sigma Gamma Tau’s National Aerospace Group and the Engineering Honors Society at UF. With a 3.85 GPA, she currently holds a part-time research assistantship with Boeing, and has held several internships and research assistantships with Technical Devices Incorporated and The University of Minnesota. Additionally, Samantha is a Teaching Assistant for mechanics of materials laboratory and a mechanical/aerospace engineering academic peer advisor at her school.
Memorial Graduate Scholarship: Elisabeth McKinley Staten, University of Florida
Elizabeth has a 4.0 GPA and is pursuing a Master of Urban and Regional Planning (class of 2022) at the University of Florida. Her accomplishments include serving as Student Seat for the Gainesville Tree Advisory Board, Secretary & Treasurer for the University of Florida Chapter of Women in Transportation, Vice President of Community Organizing for Florida Not One More (a student-led advocacy group that promotes safer roads for pedestrians in Gainesville and across the UF campus), and as a member of the University of Florida’s Student Safety Committee. Her hands-on experience includes serving as Transportation Planning Intern with the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission (NWGRC). Responsibilities entailed updating the Bike Walk NW Georgia website, assisting with research for the creation of a new rural transportation system in the region, compiling census data for ongoing transportation projects, and participating in the 2020 NWGRC Planning Retreat.
Leadership Graduate Scholarship: Jady Chen, University of Central Florida
Jady Chen is pursuing a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning with a Certificate in Emergency Management and Homeland Security at the University of Central Florida. Her list of leadership accomplishments includes the following: President of the Urban Knights Planning Association (2020-2022); Membership on the U.S. Green Building Council (May 2020-Present); Social Media Coordinator for the Florida Planning and Zoning Association (February 2021-Present); Treasurer of the Alpha Iota Sigma Honors Society (August 2018 to August 2019); and Sustainability Executive Vice Chair for the UCF Student Government, Innovation Council (September 2019-Present). Jady has also held internships and teaching assistantship with Heidt Design, LLC, the City of Orlando, and the University of Central Florida, respectively.
Congratulations to the 2021 WTS Central Florida Award Recipients!
Each year, the Central Florida Chapter of WTS celebrates the contributions of fantastic women and men in the transportation industry. We are excited to announce the following recipients of our Chapter Awards for 2021, who were announced at our Annual Banquet on September 30, 2021:
Kelda Senior, APR | Member of the Year
This award recognizes a current WTS member who has made extraordinary contributions to the success of the organization, effectively promoting and expanding the reputation of WTS within the transportation industry. This year’s award winner has been a key strategist behind the expansion of our chapter’s digital footprint, resulting in strong event attendance and participation in WTS events even when face-to-face networking was not an option. She has strengthened our chapter’s efforts in email marketing and social media outreach, including a series of YouTube videos featuring interviews with WTS committee chairs to attract future members. She applied her expertise to provide constructive feedback from our chapter for the new WTS International suite of marketing and communications tools. Our WTS Member of the Year is also the Communications and Public Relations Chair for Black Orlando Tech, active in the Public Relations Society of America Orlando Chapter, and serves within her church, Crown Church Orlando.
Kelly Hogan Morphy | Citizen Transportation Advocate of the Year
Citizen Transportation Advocate of the Year recognizes a citizen who is not in the transportation industry, but who has made an impact. The 2021 award winner took action to rally her neighbors and fellow parents and help educate them on safer alternatives during a roadway widening project, making sure that everyone showed up to speak at City and County Commission meetings. Her persistence and passion resulted in a different alternative being built – a roundabout that operates efficiently and has received many positive kudos from residents. Our recipient’s experience as a journalist taught her the power and importance of community engagement, and she has followed through on that lesson by serving on non-profit boards, volunteering with various community groups from California to Iowa and thankfully now here in Central Florida, previously serving on the Bike/Walk Central Florida board and recently launching a scholarship program to help kids from underserved areas of Apopka to learn to play tennis.
Stacey Russell, CDP | Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award
The Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award recognizes an organization or an individual that has significantly contributed to the promotion of diversity, inclusion, and multicultural awareness within their organization and the transportation industry. Our award winner serves as her company’s Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Facilitator, leading multiple initiatives within her firm. To further educate herself, she completed a transformational leadership course and diversity training at USF. She hosts regular discussions within her company about all cultures and has worked to expand recognition efforts to LGBTQ colleagues. She has not only made an impact within her company but also within our local WTS chapter, contributing to the development of our new Diversity Committee. This was in addition to her role as co-chair of the Membership Committee. She led efforts to set up WTS’s first book club session, which focused on Robin Diangelo’s book, White Fragility. She has helped others understand how to launch Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committees within their firms and has facilitated a number of sessions on this topic.
Don Hammack (Dewberry) | Honorable Ray LaHood Award
The Honorable Ray LaHood Award honors a man who is a leader in the transportation community and has contributed to the advancement of women and minorities. If you are a woman building her career in this industry, you know just how important it is for men to stand up and speak up when it comes to leveling the playing field. This year’s award winner has done just that, acting as a vocal champion for female leaders within his organization. He has been referred to as “the definition” of an ideal advocate for women and minorities, striving to treat every individual equally, which has resulted in a number of women and minorities holding key positions within his company. He consistently promotes women for project management roles within his firm, seeking to promote from within and offering a path for growth for women and minorities. He has helped create a welcoming work environment for new mothers, supporting women to continue to grow their professional careers as they also grow their families. He actively encourages all women within his firm to participate in organizations like WTS. His actions have demonstrated his values, which have left an indelible mark on those within his company and beyond.
Nancy Clements, PE (WGI) | Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year honors a woman who is an outstanding role model, contributing to the advancement of women and minorities in transportation in a variety of ways. Our Woman of the Year has made an impact through mentorship programs, both within her firm and within our local WTS chapter. Having experienced discrimination as a woman working in the transportation industry, our Woman of the Year knows that mentorship programs are a vital component of career development and enhancement. In 2018, our Woman of the Year re-started the WTS Emerging Professionals Mentor/Protégé program and since then 66 participants have taken part, making connections to leaders and completing a 12-day empathic communication challenge – something all of us could use. It goes without saying that if you are a senior transportation professional who would like to mentor, please connect with our Woman of the Year to get involved. In 2020, this award recipient was asked to lead her firm’s effort to renew and grow their diversity and inclusion programming, leading to their new Inclusion Committee, with representation from each of their offices. She also created and currently manages her firm’s Rising Star Committee, as well as launching a Lunch & Learn program and creating career path development charts for her staff. Our Woman of the Year inspires women at all levels within the transportation industry, having shown that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished with determination and maybe a little stubbornness.
Orange County Code Amendments for Pedestrian Safety and ADA Compliance | Innovative Transportation Solutions Award
The innovative transportation solution award salutes a project that was led by a woman or a team of women. This year, we recognize a project whose approach to innovation included efforts to make communities livable, equitable, and pedestrian-friendly, which required bringing together engineers, planners, and other disciplines to address a variety of development and transportation factors. This project integrated Comprehensive Plan policies for connectivity and pedestrian features, Sustainability Plan goals for pedestrian-oriented environments and safety, Walk-Ride-Thrive! pedestrian safety program elements, and recommendations to incorporate ADA facilities on public rights-of-way. Code amendments were designed to enhance pedestrian safety and ADA accessibility in site development and the County’s transportation network. The ordinance made extensive changes to the Code’s standards for site development and the transportation network countywide, including for several special planning areas/overlay districts, to contribute to a safer, more connected, and more accessible built environment and transportation system. This project was a five-year process, during which a team of women led and contributed to the final results. I am happy to announce that our 2021 Innovative Transportation Solutions Award goes to the Orange County Code Amendments for Pedestrian Safety and ADA Compliance.
WGI, Inc. | Employer of the Year
The Employer of the Year award honors an organization that recruits, retains, and advances women within the transportation industry. To receive this award, the company must include women in executive and senior leadership positions, with career paths for female leaders. Our Employer of the Year is a national design and professional services firm leading in technology-based solutions for the construction of public infrastructure and real estate development. They have consistently made investments in tomorrow’s technology and in their team members who leverage those new technologies to deliver real and sustainable solutions for their clients. Women are well-represented within this year’s Employer of the Year, with 32 percent of the total company being female and the 27 percent of its corporate executive team being made up of women, including the head of the Transportation Division, and 23% of the practice area leaders are female. This company’s Emerging Leaders Program offers specialized training to the future managers of the firm, with 25 percent of participants being women. The current Project Manager Training cohort also has 25 percent of participants as women. Continuous learning is very important to this company and they support their associates with a robust program of professional and self-development. They host a WOW group (Women of WGI) that offers monthly sessions for women to discuss common workplace issues and empower women leaders. Let’s celebrate this year’s Employer of the Year: WGI, Inc.
We salute our 2021 scholarship recipients and award winners!
We could not have done this without our event sponsors and annual sponsors!
