2024 Report to DEI Committee

The four 2024 momentum leaders listed below are the dissectologists who willingly unfolded an old card table that was wedged in our storage unit, turned over our box of scattered jigsaw parts, and agreed, “Edges first!” Thank you, Austin, Sheryl, Snehal, and George for getting all up in the mix of innies and outies for our two Working Groups.

Enlightenment Working Group Momentum Leaders

Education, Training, and Growth

Austin Bernier, RideFlag Technologies, Inc.

Sheryl Johnson, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Recognition Working Group Momentum Leaders

Awards, Scholarships, and Best Practices

Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith

George Christopher, Emovis

If searching for the missing pieces of an unfinished puzzle is your thing, please contact Joi Dean for consideration of becoming a momentum leader of either of these working groups in 2025.

They do their own stunts!

There were 29 stage appearances of DEI Committee members on a 2024 IBTTA educational event or program in a general or breakout session, as Moderator, Facilitator, or Speaker, or as a virtual webinar Moderator or Panelist. Listed below are your team members who – now that they think about it – hope they remembered to plug the committee’s activities when they grabbed the mic:

“It’s Not Just Books Anymore” Club Group Discussions (virtual, quarterly: March, June, September, 2024) held Group Discussions on Building Toward a Psychologically Safe Work Environment, Code-Switching, and the historical resource and film Green Book. (The final session, Shaping Tomorrow's Future of Opportunity, Outreach, and Engagement, will be facilitated by Peter Ousley, Accenture on Thursday, December 12.)

Austin Bernier, RideFlag Technologies, Inc. and Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis

Women in Tolling Career Panel (webinar - March, 2024)
Rosa Rountree, AtkinsRéalis

Technology Summit – Atlanta, Georgia: May, 2024
Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, Lucinda Broussard, San Diego Association of Governments, Joi Dean, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Tawnya Freund, ViaPlus, Peter Ousley, Accenture, and DeeAnne Vickery, Halff

Finance and Road Usage Charging Summit – Baltimore, Maryland: June, 2024
George Christopher, Emovis, Reema Griffith, Washington State Transportation Commission, Jee Kim, Gannett Fleming, Cintia Nazima, Moody's Investors Service, and Peter Ousley, Accenture

Maintenance, Engineering, and Roadway Operations Workshop – Fort Myers, Florida: July, 2024
Bryan Homayouni, Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) and Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis

Smashing Smishing in Tolling Webinar (webinar – August, 2024)
George Christopher, Emovis and Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions

Global Tolling Summit – Seville, Spain: September, 2024
John “JD” Davis, ViaPlus, Joi Dean, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions

92nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition – Cleveland, Ohio: October, 2024
Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, Laurie Davis, Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, Joi Dean, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Tawnya Freund, ViaPlus, Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions, Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis, Cassaundra Rouse, Illinois Tollway, and Shannon Swank, Cogitative Consulting, LLC

In 2024, DEI Committee members worked behind the scenes, serving on each of IBTTA’s five Meeting Planning Groups (MPGs), which benefitted, even further, with two of you holding the Chief Meeting Organizer (CMO) title for the Finance & RUC Summit and the 92^nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition. The following set designers served on MPGs in 2024:

Technology Summit – Atlanta, Georgia: May, 2024

Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, George Christopher, Emovis, Tawnya Freund, ViaPlus, Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions, Takesha McClane-Tsamis, Illinois Tollway, Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis, Rosa Rountree, AtkinsRéalis, Sean Tihal, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., and Joe Williams, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority

Finance and Road Usage Charging Summit – Baltimore, Maryland: June, 2024
 George Christopher (CMO), Emovis, Tawnya Freund, ViaPlus, Jee Kim, Gannett Fleming, and Amit Thomas, CDM Smith

Maintenance, Engineering, and Roadway Operations Workshop – Fort Myers, Florida: July, 2024
 Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis and Joe Williams, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority

Global Tolling Summit – Seville, Spain: September, 2024
George Christopher, Emovis, John “JD” Davis, ViaPlus, Takesha McClane-Tsamis, Illinois Tollway, and Lisa Thompson, HNTB Corporation

92nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition – Cleveland, Ohio: October, 2024
Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, George Christopher, Emovis, Bill Cramer, HNTB Corporation, Jee Kim, Gannett Fleming, Wayne Reed (CMO), AtkinsRéalis, Rosa Rountree, AtkinsRéalis, Shannon Swank, Cogitative Consulting, LLC, and Amit Thomas, CDM Smith

2025 Conference Planning Meeting – Virtual: September, 2024

Y’all showed up here! The DEI Committee members listed below took advantage of the opportunity to lend expertise and input into the content-building process for the six events that will take place in 2025:

Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, Austin Bernier, RideFlag Technologies, Inc., Tracie Brown, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, George Christopher, Emovis, Bill Cramer, HNTB Corporation, Joi Dean, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Tawnya Freund, ViaPlus, Leslie Gervasio, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions, Sheryl Johnson, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Jee Kim, Gannett Fleming, Peter Ousley, Accenture, Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis, Shannon Swank, Cogitative Consulting, LLC, Amit Thomas, CDM Smith, Sean Tihal, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., Joe Williams, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, and Heather Wills, STV Incorporated

Don’t you want to share with your colleagues and friends (and your boss!) exactly what the DEI Committee is delivering on? Go ahead and direct them to this little masterpiece! By popular demand, we’ve printed a new 2024 version of the DEI Committee trifold, updated to include the latest projects and initiatives that our working groups championed. Be sure to show them which programs you’re proudest of contributing to and don’t forget to point to your name on the inside page where we roll credits! When you attend any in-person IBTTA meeting, pick up a few of the printed copies to carry around and leave behind. The digital version is also posted on the IBTTA web site. Spread the word about the DEI Committee's programs and share your accomplishments!

DEI Tri-Fold

IBTTA’s year of programming included education sessions that touched upon, focused on, and outright stated that the presentations would provide a perspective of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tolling industry. All of these programs share the same intention of seeking to engage in an examination of practices and policies addressing accessibility challenges in the industry and to find solutions to inequities. So, here’s a look at those DEI sessions. Although they’ve got titles by many other names, they still… smell as sweet? (I was trying to go somewhere with an idiom there, but I lost it.)

Beginning with a webinar in January, a Women in Tolling Career Panel including your team member Rosa Rountree, presented a virtual session that looked at career path choices and offered advice and perspectives from the panel of women on leadership roles in the public and private sectors.

An Open Space session presented by the Enlightenment Working Group of the IBTTA DEI Committee, Keeping DEI Top of Mind, asked participants at the Technology Summit to consider “Where Do We Go From Here?” A Summary Report with complete notes from the discussions was generated and is posted on IBTTA’s web site.

A General Session, moderated by Peter Ousley, Improving Equity in Tolling & Transportation(link is external) at the Technology Summit in Atlanta discussed avoiding and mitigating unintended consequences and responsible and equitable technology uses. Lucinda Broussard was a Speaker on the panel with her presentation Mitigating the Unintended Consequence of the Left Behind Voices.

IBTTA didn’t miss a step with incorporating the Equity: Policy Vs. Practice(link is external) session at the Finance & RUC Summit in June. Peter Ousley anchored the panel (and crescendoed the three-day event!) with his Equity Considerations in Tolling and Road Pricing presentation at the close of this General Session.

The Open Space session that was held in Fort Myers during the Maintenance, Engineering, & Roadway Operations Workshop, gave attendees a chance to lead conversations on What Gets You Up in the Morning. Proposed topics included “dealing with the unhoused and the homeless” and “best practices for adding and maintaining staff,” which were bound to lead to concepts directly related to equity and diversity. The two-part session was facilitated by Wayne Reed.

Highlighting the 92^nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Cleveland, the Shaping Tomorrow’s Transportation: Policy, Workforce, and Inclusion in a Changing Landscape session brought rave reviews from participants in attendance on Day Two of the event. Demonstrating the partnership that IBTTA shares with the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (read more about the COMTO bond below), the Sunday morning session was moderated by COMTO’s President & CEO April Rai, and it was headlined by the Acting Undersecretary of Transportation Christopher Coes. This session is a product of the Enlightenment Working Group. Enter password “Cleveland24” to access the full video(link is external) of the session, which IBTTA has posted in the Past Presentations section of the Events page.

Photo: Sadie Lebo

Might as well round out the name-dropping on this impressive panel! Seated next to moderator April Rai (COMTO) from left to right: Michael Bryant (Texas DOT), Daveda Bencs (COMTO Cleveland Chapter), Undersecretary Christopher Coes (USDOT), Veronica Davis (AtkinsRéalis and author of Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities(link is external)), and Marcelle Jones (Stantec Consulting Services).

Did you hear the one about the research scientist who tried to take a shortcut to work? He ended up in a data jam! 😂 (Mmmm… not so much?)

Well… a newly formed DEI Research Team took shape in 2024. Made up of the small group of volunteers listed below, it’s poised to place a finger on the pulse of the DEI programs that are in force among IBTTA member organizations. A product of the Enlightenment Working Group, DEI Committee members who have signed up for this team are David Abraham, Lucinda Broussard, Peter Ousley, Nikhil Puri, Wayne Reed, Rosa Rountree, Shannon Swank, and Sean Tihal.

In preliminary planning, the DEI Research Team intends to gather empirical and anecdotal data to evaluate how effective the programs are and, by review of the information collected, demonstrate the extent to which those programs function as supportive to the DEI Committee’s objective of addressing how the tolling industry influences the wider society and communities through its policies and perspectives. There’s also consideration of looking at placement rates in universities and colleges and examining student internship experiences. The purpose of this team’s work would ultimately serve to further the IBTTA Board of Directors’ strategic outcome of “promoting and exemplifying diversity, equity, and inclusion, ethical behavior, and cultural awareness in its governance, operations, programs, and services.”

(Okay, Terr, that’s a lot. Take a breath.)

This is going to be a big undertaking and we need to remember that the DEI Research Team is made up of “volunteers” who have other real jobs, right? So, we’re going to take heed in what the S.O.S. Band admonished: “Baby, we can do it. Take the time. Do it right(link is external).” Once 2025 arrives, we’ll get a meeting on the schedule to get this research band back together.

Emphasizing “accessibility” in its executive development program, the IBTTA Foundation’s faculty and staff taught the Leadership Academy Class of 2024 a lesson on how to put DEIA in Action. The training session took place during the week-long course in Washington, DC (February, 2024).

The placement of the session on the program shows that, in a sense, DEI is expanding. Go ahead and applaud the “A” add-on to DEI here. Then, play along with me and guess which letter of the growing DEI alphabet I had to look up in order to find out what it stands for:

• A is fo Accessibility (DEIA)
• B is fo Belonging (DEIB)
• J is fo Justice (DEIJ)

By the way, before the next class enrolls, let’s not hold the applause for our graduates from the DEI Committee who are in that “Sweet 16” Leadership Academy Class of 2024: Snehal Ambare, Iain Deckard, and Gilletta Stewart! 

The IBTTA Experience: If we build it, they will come (…if it’s not right in the middle of final exams) 

Rosa Rountree gave advice and guidance to our HBCU student-guests Carlus and Thai at the Technology Summit.

It turns out that college kids sometimes have to take tests. And as the syllabi would have it, IBTTA’s perfectly-scheduled Technology Summit apparently conflicted with final exams week in May, 2024, precluding the participation of many students we hoped to meet at the IBTTA Experience in Atlanta. Still, two standout future leaders, Carlus Mitchell and Thailand Griffith, were able to fit in a visit with the DEI Committee members for a few hours on Day Three of the Summit. As a Senior at Morehouse College, Carlus is pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree; and Freshman Thailand Griffith is a Computer Science and Computer Engineering Major at Clark Atlanta University.

The IBTTA Experience was created in 2023 to introduce students who are attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to the depth of career possibilities in the transportation and tolling industry. The Recognition Working Group plans to continue efforts to hold the IBTTA Experience at 2025 IBTTA events when they are held during the school year and are located in or near a city that has an HBCU.

This one is DEI Committee adjacent and too cool to ignore. In October, during the Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Kristin Sholl and Bill Cramer, two of your teammates who serve on the Enlightenment Working Group, had an unexpected encounter with actor and DEI advocate Martin Sheen at a nearby Cleveland restaurant.

Taking advantage of the rare casting call to have a conversation with the public figure who has a platform (and he uses it!), Kristin and Bill got themselves invited to sit with Sheen for what became a memorable chat. (In my version of the story, they talked about the DEI Committee, but you should probably go with what Kristin and Bill tell you.)

According to Kristin, Sheen underscored the ongoing importance of art, music, and poetry during difficult times, and the leadership qualities of expressing ideas of substance, of sharing hearts and souls, and shining bright lights in the world while leading the charge in service for the greater good. (In other words, “the DEI Committee.”)

Adding that Sheen was headed to Pennsylvania to campaign for two Democratic US Senators, Bill referred to Sheen as a delightful beacon of truth who shared that he thinks the country we love needs to be more thoughtful, inclusive, and kind. 💓 (Same.)

DEI Advocate and Actor Martin Sheen met tolling superstars from IBTTA’s DEI Committee, Kristin Sholl and Bill Cramer.

😎 How can you not love this snapshot?!

For the second consecutive year, the IBTTA Foundation awarded seven $5,000 scholarships to deserving students for their tuition and program needs; and for the second consecutive year, four of those seven scholarship recipients are Students of Color enrolled in one of the 100 recognized Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Donations for the scholarship program came from IBTTA’s fundraisers throughout the year and, importantly, one of the $5,000 awards was specifically earmarked for an HBCU student (Wait, what – we can do that?) by a contribution from Ohio Turnpike Infrastructure and Commission. Since 2020, the Recognition Working Group has promoted, nurtured, and advised candidates from HBCUs in an effort to identify and serve the most outstanding undergraduate and graduate students… and with more than half of the scholarship awards going to HBCU students, it seems to be working!

Don’t come for me but I wanted to drop a joke about students “bumming a ride” in this section. After I checked out this heartfelt inspiring video of the scholarship winners, I just couldn’t do it. 🤭 When you see this insightful look at the investment the IBTTA Foundation has made in these outstanding students you’ll see why. It’s well worth the seven minutes you’ll spend watching.

In 2024, IBTTA revitalized the Memorandum of Understanding with the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) that was forged between our two associations to support each other in the development of programmatic content, identify opportunities for jointly-sponsored activities, and publicize and provide recognition as an allied organization of each other’s organizations. The encouragement of the Enlightenment Working Group fuels that MOU and the continued support will be key to the success of the collaboration! Here are just a few noteworthy examples that IBTTA and COMTO have produced and will continue to build on:

• COMTO and IBTTA will coordinate event and activities calendars for widespread promotion and reciprocal exhibit participation.
• COMTO and IBTTA will exchange complimentary registrations for leaders to participate in each other’s annual meetings.
• With President & CEO April Rai’s participation in IBTTA’s 92^nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Cleveland, we’re off to a strong re-start! More of this in 2025.
• Likewise, IBTTA will save the dates for COMTO’s Women Who Move the Nation event (Washington, DC / May, 2025) and the 54th National Meeting and Training Conference (New York City, NY / July 12-15, 2025).
• COMTO and IBTTA will cross-promote efforts to advance thought leadership. (And, puuuurely coincidentally, I just happen to have a handy link to this article I wrote which was printed in COMTO’s Summer edition of the ACCELERATE pub. It’s all about leadership styles that empower teams… and yeah, I wrote that.)
• The IBTTA team hosted key staff members from COMTO in October for a re-introduction session that will jumpstart our collaboration in 2025.

You can trust and believe that whenever we’ve got guests at IBTTA’s World Headquarters, CEO Pat Jones gonna take that selfie! 🤳
 During COMTO’s visit, pictured with Pat from left to right: Julia Bankerd, me (Terri Lankford), April Rai, Delia Gonçalves, IBTTA’s Tanya Sheres, and Nadji Kirby.

In 2024, 407 ETR’s DEI Program (in the public sector) and Dewberry’s IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) program (in the private sector) were winners of the IBTTA DEI Award.

The video of the 2024 Awards Ceremony has been posted on the IBTTA Past Event Presentations page (if prompted, use password Cleveland24) and descriptions of each program are posted on the Awards page.

The Recognition Working Group is pleased to have scored the entries for the annual DEI Award program for the fourth consecutive year!

… our photographer is there. Yep, it’s a thing now.

Here are the team pictures that were taken this year when the attendees of IBTTA’s five in-person meetings read the memo 😉 were able to gather together for the scheduled photo shoot.

At the Technology Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, the DEI Committee members in attendance showed the special student-guest from the IBTTA Experience how it feels to be on the team!

Pictured, left to right: Roland Bonilla, Marcus Williams, Tawnya Freund, Sean Tihal, Snehal Ambare, Gilletta Steward, HBCU student Thai Griffith, LaKrysha Steverson-Winsley, DeeAnne Vickery, Chris Tomlinson, Lucinda Broussard, George Christopher, Joi Dean, Ferzan Ahmed, Ron Fagan, Cassaundra Rouse, and Jamir Jackson

Let’s see if you can spot the future DEI Committee member in this team photo of the members in attendance at the Finance and Road Usage Charging Summit in Baltimore, Maryland.

Pictured, left to right: Ferzan Ahmed, Tawnya Freund, Snehal Ambare, photo-bomber Terri Lankford, Lucinda Broussard, Peter Ousley, Joi Dean with the younger Ms. Dean, Shannon Swank, Torey Alston, Rosa Rountree, George Christopher, Cassaundra Rouse, Cintia Nazima, and Sean Tihal

 I still can’t decide whether to call them the cool kids or the hot shots in this DEI Committee team picture from what has to be the most tropical Maintenance, Engineering and Roadway Operations Workshop… Fort Myers, Florida in July, y’all.

Pictured, left to right: Bryan Homayouni, Tom Porter, George Christopher, Joe Williams, Rafael Hernandez, Tawnya Freund, and Wayne Reed

Someday, one of them will spill about exactly what it was that went on in Seville, Spain when the DEI Committee members posed for their team picture at the Global Tolling Summit. (This is what happens when I don’t get to travel to the meeting 😉 I’m not there to supervise the photo shoot.)

Pictured, left to right: Madeline Washington, Tawnya Freund, Joi Dean, you-gotta-look-close-to-find-the-hidden JD Davis, and Rafael Hernandez 

 Someone told me that if you pinch the bridge of your nose at the top, it blocks your tear ducts… and gurl, it worked because I held it together in Cleveland, Ohio at the 92^nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition, when our largest team picture of all time happened.

Pictured, left to right: Cintia Nazima, Peter Ousley, Kristin Sholl, Sheryl Johnson, Snehal Ambare, Rick Crooks, Barbara Roberts, Chris Tomlinson, K.D. Warach, Laurie Davis, LaKrysha Steverson-Winsley, Joi Dean, Shannon Swank, Roland Bonilla, Ron Fagan, Bill Cramer, George Christopher, Amit Thomas, Cassaundra Rouse, and Tawnya Freund)

Members of Meeting Planning Groups (MPGs) assist session organizers in discussing individual session formats, finding the best presenters, and building outstanding sessions for all of IBTTA’s events. This is where the input from a diverse group really plays a key role in the outcome of a session.

It’s not too late to add your name to the list of members contributing to one of IBTTA’s MPGs in 2025! While the meeting planning groups for the Tech Summit and Finance Summit have already begun work and aren’t accepting additional members, there’s still room to participate in the other MPGs. Each group will launch its work about six months prior to the event’s scheduled date… so now’s the time to send in your requests to be a part of any of those 2025 programming groups.

To date, the following members have already been assigned:

Technology Summit - Dallas, Texas: March 22-25, 2025

Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, Austin Bernier, RideFlag Technologies, Inc., Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions, Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis, Rosa Rountree, AtkinsRéalis, LaKrysha Steverson-Winsley, Valor Intelligent Processing LLC, Shannon Swank, Cogitative Consulting, LLC, and DeeAnne Vickery, Halff

Finance and Road Usage Charging Summit – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: April 27 - 29, 2025

Susan Binder, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., George Christopher, Emovis, Rafael Hernandez, Intelliroad, a division of Kyra Solutions, Jee Kim, Gannett Fleming, Jeff Miller, West Virginia Parkways Authority, Shannon Swank, and Cogitative Consulting, LLC

Communications, HR, & Legal Workshop – Portland, Oregon: June 1 - 3, 2025

Bill Cramer, HNTB Corporation, Tawnya Freund, ViaPlus, Leslie Gervasio, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Sheryl Johnson, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Rosa Rountree, AtkinsRéalis, DeeAnne Vickery, Halff, and Heather Wills, STV Incorporated

Maintenance, Engineering, and Roadway Operations Workshop – Detroit, Michigan: July 26 - 29, 2025

Tracie Brown, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority

93rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition - Denver, Colorado: October 11 - 14, 2025

Snehal Ambare, CDM Smith, Susan Binder, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., Iain Deckard, Neology, Leslie Gervasio, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Sheryl Johnson, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Jeff Miller, West Virginia Parkways Authority, Peter Ousley, Accenture, Wayne Reed, AtkinsRéalis, LaKrysha Steverson-Winsley, Valor Intelligent Processing LLC, Amit Thomas, CDM Smith, Sean Tihal, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., Madeline Washington, Emovis, and Heather Wills, STV Incorporated

Global Tolling Summit – TBD: location and date

George Christopher, Emovis

Please use this form to express your interest in being placed on one of the 2025 MPGs.

The Recognition Working Group released a new web microcast series called Spotlights! and it features IBTTA transportation leaders who talk about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in organizations and the tolling industry.

In the inaugural episode, George Christopher opened the series, talking with the inspirational Ferzan Ahmed, who advised us on how he brings in and nurtures the next generation of professionals at the Ohio Turnpike Infrastructure and Commission. George then elicited the delightful insights from Torey Alston about the thriving and stable Greater Miami Expressway Agency.

Next, Snehal Ambare asked IBTTA First Vice President James Hofmann to remote in from North Texas Tollway Authority and this interviewed amounted to a free online class in leadership. And in our last microcast edition of this season, Snehal shined a light on Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Joi Dean, on track to become IBTTA’s first Black woman President in 2026.

“And scene!”
 

Thanks to my colleague 🎥 Tabria Lee-Noonan, who is our Director …and Producer …and Editor of Spotlights!, we got picked up for another season! So, in the coming months, look for interviews with more transportation leaders on our invitation list, like Rick Crooks, Ron Fagan, and Rosa Rountree (just to name a few… and no, they don’t all have names beginning with R).