The following questions were posed to our 2024 Western District candidates to get to know them a little better.

1. Why do you want to be a District officer?

To promote the transportation profession, especially through mentorship for the next generation of transportation professionals. I wouldn’t have become a transportation engineer without ITE and the professionals who spent the time supporting, mentoring, and building relationships with me.

2. Who was your mentor and why?

My last supervisor at the SFMTA. He was a mentor who encouraged my growth as a leader in the transportation profession by challenging me with new opportunities in the workplace and helping me to develop my confidence and voice.

3. What was the best advice you’ve been given?

“If you walk in and there’s a seat at the table, you sit at the table. It doesn’t matter if you’re an intern.” I still remember this piece of advice from my first female supervisor, especially when I am the only woman or the youngest engineer in a room.

4. Tell us about your most challenging project.

SFMTA’s Mid-Valencia Center-Running Bikeway Pilot. Our team proposed an unconventional and controversial design to pilot San Francisco’s first center-running protected bikeway. This design aimed to balance the competing needs for bike and pedestrian safety improvements, loading for merchants, and the Shared Spaces parklet program. You can hear more about this project as part of the Sacramento Annual Meeting’s technical program! sfmta.com/valencia

5. What is a little known fact about you?

I was a paddler on UC Berkeley’s 2009 National Concrete Canoe Championship team. We traveled to Tuscaloosa, AL to race our canoe, Bear Area.

6. Why did you join ITE?

I joined ITE when I co-founded UC Berkeley’s Cal ITE student chapter in 2008. We started the ITE student chapter to bring more resources to introduce our fellow civil engineering students to transportation as a career path.

7. What are 3 words that best describe you?

Passionate, resilient, mentor

1. Why do you want to be a District officer?

Serving ITE has been a passion of mine since I became a member in 1995. From the local Section level to the District and International level, being part of ITE has been important to me. Serving the District as an International Director will help me to support the District members at the highest level.

2. Who was your mentor and why?

Over my career, I am grateful to have had multiple people that have provided me with mentorship. I have worked closely with Walter Okitsu and Rock Miller, who have provided me both technical and professional mentorship and guidance and have also been great ITE role models.

3. What was the best advice you’ve been given?

A wise car salesman once told me, “Try to live in the moment and trust that the choice you make will be the best one in that moment”.

4. Tell us about your most challenging project.

I am currently working on planning and engineering for 7 miles of new bikeway in Los Angeles and it includes challenges in all aspects of the designs as we balance the diverse mobility needs of the community.

5. What is a little known fact about you?

I enjoy watching classic movies.

6. Why did you join ITE?

During my senior year of college I decided that transportation would be my career focus and when I became a professional I joined ITE to be connected with like-minded professionals.

7. What are 3 words that best describe you?

Helpful, dedicated, and loyal.

1. Why do you want to be a District officer?

ITE has played a pivotal role in my professional development, from student to young professional to manager. My leadership experience includes 2 years at the student chapter level, 4 years at the Northern California Section level, and 5 years at the Western District level. I have been the Western District Website Manager since 2019, and am also the current Local Arrangements Committee (LAC) Chair for the Annual Meeting this summer in Sacramento. I believe my experience at the local and district level has prepared me well for this position. Some of my priorities include providing the resources and coaching needed to ensure all sections thrive, offering relevant, timely, and high quality technical content for all transportation professionals, ensuring a seamless transition for student members into ITE’s professional ranks, and supporting young professionals with mentoring, training, and leadership opportunities.

2. Who was your mentor and why?

The person who has had the greatest influence on my career was my first boss at DKS Associates, John Long. I had assumed that my entry level engineering work would consist primarily of traffic impact studies and drafting. While some of my projects did encompass these tasks, John opened my eyes to travel demand modeling, nexus studies/impact fee program development, microsimulation, and other fairly niche areas of practice. He encouraged me to expand my horizons by traveling to work in other geographies, writing proposals early on in my career, training to acquire new skills, and of course participating in ITE. John intentionally developed his practice as an extension of agency staff, exclusively serving public sector clients in the Sacramento region. This focus on agency work helped me build trust and relationships with many jurisdictions, as well as insights into the seemingly-mysterious workings of government. The technical and soft skills I learned continue to serve me in my current role, ten years later, leading the Transportation Planning and Development group at the Sacramento County Department of Transportation (SacDOT).

3. What was the best advice you’ve been given?

As a student: Prioritize internship opportunities and practical experience over summer classes. Take the FE and PE exams as early as possible.
As a young professional: It’s usually more advantageous (or at least gives you more options) to be a generalist than a specialist; be open to learning and trying new things. Also you have the power to set the trajectory of your career. If you’re willing to put in the extra effort, you will reach your goals much faster. This could be stepping up to help on a project or proposal, investing personal time learning new skills, cultivating relationships, attending ITE events, or finding other ways to add value to your organization.
As a manager: It’s hard to let go of the work you used to do, but embrace the 70% rule of delegation. If a task could be done at least 70 percent as well by someone else, it should be delegated. Also let go of perfection and try not to pursue the 30 percent, especially for low risk/low impact decisions.

4. Tell us about your most challenging project.

The most challenging project I worked on was the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit (East Bay BRT) project, which provided exclusive BRT lanes and continuous bicycle lanes along a 9.5 mile segment of International Boulevard and Broadway within the Cities of Oakland and San Leandro. This was my first time working on a signal design/ITS project, and the scope included final PS&E for 122 traffic signals, including 71 signal modifications, 35 new signals, 15 pedestrian signals and one pedestrian hybrid beacon, as well as TSP, fiber optic communication, and lighting design. Needless to say I had to learn very quickly! We also had to design to standards of three different agencies (Oakland, San Leandro, and Caltrans). Despite a number of late evenings and meticulous file management practices, I really enjoyed the field work, camaraderie, and sense of accomplishment in seeing the project go operational.

5. What is a little known fact about you?

I decided I was going to go to Cal Poly SLO and become a traffic engineer in 7th grade.

6. Why did you join ITE?

During a college tour my senior year of high school, I talked with students running an Open House booth for the student ITE student chapter, and was immediately sold on ITE. I was particularly excited about the chapter’s quarterly “firm tours” of public agencies, consulting firms, and construction projects. The first tour I attended visited LADOT’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control (ATSAC) Center. We learned about the history dating back to the 1984 Olympics, and also debunked the traffic jam scene in the Italian Job. I immediately joined the NorCal ITE Section after starting my career in Sacramento, and found section meetings to be a great way to make connections and establish myself in a new area.

7. What are 3 words that best describe you?

Dependable, ESTJ, Plangineer