Erin Slayton

As HDR’s Transportation Program Management Director, Erin N. Slayton, Vice President, has extensive experience in alternative delivery, business development and cross-sector engagement. Her 21-year tenure in the industry has given her the opportunity to establish trust and respect that creates healthy professional environments among her client and project teams. Erin leverages HDR’s wide range of services, coordinating staffing and service excellence. Her experience working on complex, multi-billion-dollar programs across North America allows her to guide teams on the delivery of holistic, value-added services throughout the project lifecycle.

A licensed Professional Engineer in California, Washington, Arizona and South Carolina, Erin is also a Designated Design-Build Professional®, an Envision™ Sustainability Professional and Vice Chair of the Civil Engineering Advisory Board at The Citadel. Erin is often sought out by leaders across the industry for her insight, knowledge and participation in areas around inclusion, diversity and equity. She chairs HDR’s Transportation Inclusion Diversity and Equity Committee and recently held regional leadership positions in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

Erin is an active member of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), most recently serving as a Director-At-Large for the WTS-SC chapter, where she is a proud chartering member. 

MJ Maynard

As Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC), M.J. Maynard leads the only agency nationwide that is responsible for a region’s public transit system, traffic management, roadway and construction funding, and transportation and overall planning efforts – all under one roof.

M.J. joined the RTC in February 2007 and served as Assistant General Manager of Administrative Services and later as Deputy Chief Executive Officer prior to leading the agency. During her 14-year history with agency, she has launched several groundbreaking initiatives including on-demand mobility options; the rideRTC smartphone app; and a massive transit safety expansion project encompassing the replacement of more than 3,000 bus shelters and amenities.

M.J. worked in Las Vegas’ hospitality industry for more than 25 years prior to joining the RTC, where she served as Vice President for Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for more than a decade. In this role, she oversaw a culturally diverse staff of more than 750 employees and was responsible for managing a multi-million-dollar annual budget that included capital expansion projects.

Considered a national leader in public transit management, M.J. was recently appointed to serve on the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) 25-member executive committee; has served on its Board of Directors since 2018; and is a member of its CEO Coordinating Council. APTA leads efforts to ensure public transportation is available and accessible in communities around the country. M.J. is also a board member of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Council, an organization that works to protect the HFC bus market via legislation and regulation.

Active in the community, M.J. serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including Three Square, a community food bank serving four counties in Southern Nevada; FirstMed Health and Wellness Center, one of only two federally qualified public health centers in the region; and the Advisory Council of the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, also known as the Mob Museum.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Inez Evans

A recognized trailblazer in public transit, Inez Evans leads the WSP National Bus Practice with a focus on building strong, resilient communities through the planning and delivery of equitable, FutureReady transit solutions. Prior to joining WSP, Evans served as the first Black woman President and CEO of IndyGo, the largest transit agency in Indiana, with 800 employees, a fleet of more than 200 vehicles and an annual budget of more than $210 million. She is a champion for bus rapid transit (BRT) and Zero Emission Buses (ZEB) and ushered in IndyGo’s first all-electric line, the Red Line. Her efforts on the agency’s 2nd BRT route, the Purple Line project, brought increased transit service and infrastructure to provide new opportunities and growth for an entire community.

Beginning her 30-year career in transit as a customer service representative in a transit agency call center, Evans held positions of  increasing scope and responsibility with Austin-based Star Tran, San Jose-based Veolia Transportation and MV Transportation in Fairfield, California before becoming Director of Transportation for the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transportation Authority (MARTA) and Chief Operations Officer for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). She earned advanced degrees culminating in a doctorate degree in business management and leadership while working full-time.

Ms. Evans has a deep and thorough understanding of transit agency missions and goals to meet critical needs of unique communities. Her decades of experience at all levels of transit agencies informs her work at WSP where she leads a national practice of experts in all aspects of transit bus planning, implementation, operations, program management and strategy. She serves as a strategic advisor on innovation, operations, capital improvements, equity and sustainability to WSP transit clients throughout the country and around the globe.

Known for her commitment to developing the next generation of transit leaders, she recruited emerging leaders to the IndyGo executive team and is committed to supporting the growth of WSP professionals as well as mentoring and supporting emerging leaders in public transit. She serves as an American Public Transportation Association (APTA) board member and a committee member for Leadership APTA, a program that grooms transit professionals aspiring to become leaders within their organizations. In addition, Ms. Evans serves on the WTS International Executive Board and was recognized as 2022 WTS International Woman of the Year and the 2021 WTS Indianapolis Woman of the Year. She is a Director for the Indianapolis Arts Council Board of Directors, serving on its diversity and inclusion committee, a board member of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Chair for the American Heart Association’s Circle for Red Committee and was appoint. In 2019, she was appointed by Mayor Hogsett to the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee Board of Directors.

Helen McSwain

Helen Tift McSwain is Senior Vice President and National Transit Director at Rohadfox Construction Control Services Corporation where she directs the national strategy and transit operations for the 45-year-old minority and woman-owned firm.  

Ms. McSwain’s transit career spans across public and private sectors. Prior to joining Rohadfox, she served as Vice President and Regional Director at Atkins North America for over a decade. Her public agency career includes executive leadership at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (Atlanta) and METRA Commuter Railroad (Chicago). Her commitment to mentoring is exemplified through her legacy of volunteer leadership to WTS International Transportation You Program, National Chair; COMTO City Internship and Youth Symposium; APTA Emerging Leaders Program, Georgia Supplier Diversity Corporate Mentor Protégé Program, FIRST Robotics; Dr. Lonnie Johnson STEM Activity Center; and Atkins Global STEM Outreach. She is a recipient of the ATKINS Global Achievement Award for her efforts promoting STEM awareness for girls in underserved communities.  

Ms. McSwain civic leadership engagement includes the Board of Trustees for Clayton State University (Atlanta, Ga), Clayton Economic Development Board of Directors; Atlanta Regional Commission LINK Delegate, Atlanta Executive Women’s Build Habitat for Humanity, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Throughout her career she has served in local and national leadership roles supporting the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), American Public Transit Association (APTA), and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Karen Philbrick

Karen Philbrick is the executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San José State University, a position she has held since 2014. MTI leads two competitively selected multi-university consortia: the California State University Transportation Consortium (CSUTC) which unifies the surface transportation research and workforce development efforts of the 23-campus California State University system and the Mineta Consortium for Transportation Mobility (MCTM). MCTM includes four outstanding institutions that represent and support the geographical, cultural, racial, and socioeconomic diversity that makes our nation strong: Howard University; Navajo Technical University; San José State University; and the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

Prior to joining MTI, Dr. Philbrick shaped the field of transportation in a variety of roles, including as assistant director of the National Center for Intermodal Transportation at the University of Denver. She has been appointed three times by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (Secretaries LaHood, Foxx, and Chao, respectively) to sit on the USDOT Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS) where she chaired the FTA Administrator’s Tasking 14-02 which identified key elements of a safety management system approach to fatigue management.

Long committed to the USDOT University Transportation Center program, she was elected to serve the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) in several roles, including President in 2018-19. Dr. Philbrick also has the privilege of serving as the President of the Research and Education Division (RED) of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), where she also sits on the ARTBA Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Dr. Phillbrick is part of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on “Transit Safety and Security” (AP080) and “Passenger Rail Transportation” (AR010), where she also serves as the research task force lead. She currently co-chairs the TCRP F-29 panel “Mental Health, Wellness, and Resilience for Transit System Workers”.

With an eye toward seamless and equitable transportation for all, Karen also serves the industry through the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Elected to the APTA board in November 2021, she also serves as a Director for the APTA High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Committee and recently served as an appointed research advisor to the APTA Mobility Recovery and Restoration Task Force.

Committed to recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in the transportation industry, Dr. Philbrick also serves on the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) Foundation Board as Secretary after having served two terms as a Director. She contributes to her community through the Rotary Club of San José, where she has served as a board member, and where she will be elevated to President July 1, 2023.

A frequently invited keynote speaker, Dr. Philbrick has also delivered federal congressional briefings and invited testimony to the California Senate Transportation Committee and the Assembly Transportation Committee. Her other intellectual contributions include a bimonthly column on transportation in the San Jose Spotlight, the recipient of the national Publisher of the Year award for independent online news, invited articles for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and peer-reviewed journal articles focused on models of accident risk and fatigue in railroad operations, psychological trauma and transportation accidents —including grade crossing and trespasser incidents —and cross cultural differences in helping behavior.

Dr. Philbrick has received many prestigious awards for her leadership excellence and outstanding contributions to her field. She received the CUTC Administrative Leadership award, the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) named Dr. Philbrick a “Woman Who Moves the Nation,” the Silicon Valley Business Journal named Dr. Philbrick 1 of the 100 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley, and most recently, she was recognized by the YWCA Silicon Valley with a Tribute to Women Award for her contributions to the field of transportation.

Dr. Philbrick holds a PhD from the University of Denver and an MA and EdM from Columbia University. She earned her undergraduate degree from California State University, Fresno.

Debra Johnson

Debra A. Johnson is a person in the people business, a transit executive focused on making lives better through connections. Johnson was selected as General Manager and CEO of Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) by the agency’s Board of Directors on Aug. 25, 2020. She is the first woman to lead the agency in its more than half-century history.

Johnson joined RTD from Long Beach Transit, where she served as Deputy CEO of the Southern California agency from May 2014 to October 2020. Prior to that, Johnson held executive positions at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

Johnson serves on the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Board of Directors, as well as APTA’s Commuter Rail CEO’s Committee and Emerging Leaders Committee. She is a board member of the American Public Transportation Foundation and is deeply involved with the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). In 2014, Johnson’s vast transportation experience led to her appointment by former U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx as a member of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Advisory Committee. She also serves as a member of the Visit Denver Community Board and the Metropolitan State University of Denver Community Cabinet.

Johnson’s leadership and work have been recognized with several recent honors. In 2019, she received a Women in Action Award from the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute and a Women Who Move the Nation award from the COMTO. The Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce honored Johnson with a community service award in 2017. In 2016, she was given a Women Leading the Way Leadership Award from Upgrade LA and an Outstanding Transportation Executive Leadership Award from COMTO’s Southern California chapter.

Johnson holds master’s degree in public administration from California State University Hayward (now CSU East Bay), and a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from the University of California Davis and is an alumna of the Eno Transit Senior Executive program.