Awards
2024 WTS-Boston Chapter Award Recipients
WTS-Boston is proud to announce the following 2024 award winners:
Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award
Josiane Martinez, Archipelago Strategies Group
Josiane Martinez, Founder and CEO of Archipelago Strategies Group, holds over 20 years of experience working in public policy, cross cultural communications, public affairs, and public administration. Since founding ASG ten years ago, she has been the driving force behind campaigns that have generated record results for clients in the public and private sectors. In that time, she has also grown her staff to over 120 employees and 60 clients. Prior to founding ASG, she served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants in Governor Deval Patrick’s Administration. She holds a BA in Public Communications from the University of Puerto Rico and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Simmons University. In 2023, she was personally vetted by Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll to Co-Chair the Latino Empowerment Council to strategically advise the Governor on strategies to improve the wellbeing of the Latino communities in Massachusetts.
Honorable Ray LaHood Award
Gary Bua, HNTB
Gary Bua, an experienced transportation and client service professional, is HNTB’s Northeast Division president. His leadership roles within the company have included Northeast Division Project Delivery Officer and, most recently, Massachusetts Office Leader for the past eight years. Under his leadership HNTB has grown and become more diverse in several ways. Gary is actively involved in community and industry engagement groups including the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and WTS. He has served on the boards of organizations such as Boston’s “A Better City” nonprofit and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Board of Trustees. He is a professional engineer with extensive experience in bridge, highway, rail, and civil design projects for state agencies and railroads, such as the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Many of these projects have used accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques and Design-Build delivery. Gary brings a technical understanding on a wide variety of engineering disciplines, as well as understanding of the technology necessary to work in today’s engineering environment.
Innovative Transportation Solutions Award
MassDOT Compass Rail Program/Inland Route: Right of Way Modeling Partnership
The MassDOT Compass Rail Program/Inland Route: Right of Way Modeling Partnership is the first step in implementing the Commonwealth’s vision for expanded intercity passenger rail. This partnership among MassDOT, Amtrak, and CSX will ultimately result in two new daily Amtrak roundtrips between Boston-Springfield-New Haven on the Inland Route. MassDOT was awarded a $108 million Federal Railroad Administration CRISI grant for the infrastructure improvements required to begin service.
This project will result in improved intercity passenger rail services across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to enhance livability, sustainability, economic development, and to address equity issues, especially in the western part of the state, all key priorities for the Healey-Driscoll Administration.
The complexity of this project requires careful coordination and planning to balance the passenger rail and freight network needs. MassDOT’s Rail and Transit Division Administrator Meredith Slesinger was able to build the partnership between the railroads that was necessary to secure both the stakeholder cooperation necessary and project funding. She led a team to secure financial support from Amtrak, a $108M FRA grant, and initiate a cooperative effort with CSX to evaluate the corridor to model the infrastructure improvements necessary to launch new service, which is slated to begin in 2029.
Employer of the Year Award
To be announced.
Claire Barrett Member of the Year Award
To be announced.
Woman of the Year Award
To be announced.