Leveraging Data to Reconnect Communities and Create a More Equitable Transportation System

Terri comes to MDOT from the Youth Development, Education, and Retention Strategy Group (YDER), where she was the founder and principal. As a chief executive with YDER, she assisted youth development organizations and colleges and universities in creating and implementing scalable diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies. She previously served as the chief diversity officer at Madonna University in Livonia, where she was responsible for DEI-related divisional performance management, strategic, and operational planning.

In her more than 20 years of nonprofit leadership, Terri has worked for and partnered with recognized organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Negro College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, United Way International, the Michigan Department of Education, the New Mexico Department of Education, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and many others.

Terri holds a master's degree in student affairs administration and a bachelor's degree in English, both from Michigan State University. She also is certified in DEI in the workplace from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.

Terri also serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Afterschool Association and is the proud mom of an 11-year-old son.

As the new chief culture equity inclusion officer (CCEIO), Terri will directly oversee the areas of the Bureau of Transportation Planning, the Office of Organizational Development, the Office of Business Development, the Equal Employment Opportunity Office, and the Office of Economic Development.

The new CCEIO position was designed to guide the department so that we make meaningful progress in an intentional, strategic, positive direction. MDOT as an organization cannot perform at its best unless every employee is given the tools, opportunities, and platform to perform at their best. Listening to and valuing feedback from everyone and embracing the unique perspectives and perceptions that we all bring to the table is what will allow us to reach our full potential.

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Samantha Roxas is Director of State and Local Public Policy at Replica. Prior to joining the company, she led public affairs teams for REEF Technology and WeWork, where she accelerated growth through innovative partnerships with governments and communities. Before her time in the private sector, Samantha spent over a decade in the public realm; spearheading public policy, communications, and political strategies for elected officials at all levels of government.

Arthur Getman is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Replica. He has previously worked at NYC DOT for nearly a decade where he served as Director of Data Analytics.

Melissa Sather is the Executive Vice President of Transportation Management & Design, Inc. (TMD), a women-owned, industry-leading transit planning consulting firm. Melissa holds a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA and a bachelor’s degree in History and Economics from Northwestern University. During the course of her career, Melissa has led transit network redesign projects in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, CA; Des Moines, IA; Little Rock, AR; Newark, NJ, and Nashville, TN. Through her projects, Melissa strives to create more equitable and sustainable transit systems that respond to customers’ needs and deliver a high quality riding experience for all riders on all trips.

Diana Alarcon has more than 30 years of private and public sector experiences. She currently serves as Director for the Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure in the City of Nashville. The Department is responsible for sustainable transportation policy, planning & programming, street maintenance, traffic engineering, engineering, and parking.

Director Alarcon champions sustainability and mobility initiatives, such as complete street designs and citywide bike ways and greenways. She is creating a true multimodal transportation network for bicyclist, pedestrians, transit, and vehicles through reassignment of existing rights-of-way and ensuring the connectivity. She also builds partnerships with the private sector on creating mobility hubs that connects all modes including new trending modes such as micromobility.

She is an active member in the following organizations to change the approach to transportation: Women in Transportation (WTS) Seminar, American Society of Civil Engineer (ASCE), Urban Land Institute; American Planning Association; National Transit Institute; American Public Work Association; National Association of City Transportation Officials; and the International Parking & Mobility Institute.

Chris is a nationally recognized transportation expert with a passion for livable cities. He has Bachelor‘s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University, as well as a Ph.D. in Urban Transportation Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.  

Chris is currently the Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives at the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS).  His past  professional experience includes designing engines for the Ford Motor Company, working as a transportation consultant both in the United States and abroad, teaching and advising as an adjunct at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Waterloo, and serving the greater Philadelphia region as Director of Transportation Planning at Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC).

Chris has sat on advisory panels for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), and National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), and he has produced numerous conference presentation and paper

Charlene recently worked on the Biden presidential campaign on the Digital Organizing Team as the National Events Manager. In May 2020, she obtained her Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she focused on social and urban policy. She served as student body president where she worked to successfully authored and advocated for reform of the financial aid system shift to a need-based system, which the school is now piloting. She previously worked on Pre-K for All in New York City, the mayor’s signature initiative to establish and expand universal, free preschool. Prior to that she worked for the Clinton presidential campaign in Virginia in 2016. Prior to that, she worked for several years on policy and regulatory issues related to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. During her undergraduate studies, she majored in Earth and Environmental Engineering and interned at NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies analyzing their climate models.

Charlene interned under Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu to work with transportation advocates to reform a slow‑to‑implement Boston Department of Transportation to achieve the goals outlined in its Go Boston 2030 Plan. Part of the project focus entail looking at reform from a gender lens so that women’s unique transit needs are addressed.