PRESIDENT

SARAH CURRIE (TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION) 

Image

Sarah Currie is a Project Coordinator at the TTC. She is experienced in project management and strategic communications, with 14 years of experience in the transit and transportation industry. In her professional roles, Sarah has gained a wealth of experience in successfully executing projects, developing relationships with influencers and stakeholders, managing public consultation events and guiding issues management initiatives, among others, to support the achievement of strategic objectives.

Sarah is active in the WTS Toronto Area Chapter and serving as a Board Director since and most recently as Vice-President. Sarah holds a bachelors’ degree in communications and psychology from Laurier University, a postgraduate degree in public relations from Humber College and a diploma in labour relations from the University of Western Ontario

PAST PRESIDENT

Kirsten Watson (AECOM) 

Image

Kirsten Watson joined AECOM in 2022 as Vice President of Government Relations and Transit Market Sector leader for AECOM's Canadian transportation business. In addition to her transit responsibilities, Kirsten works across all business lines to increase AECOM’s profile in Canada with its government partners and clients. 

Prior to this, Kirsten was the Deputy CEO at the TTC, the third largest transit agency in North America and a multi-modal system of buses, streetcars, and subway, carrying roughly 534 million trips annually, providing 85% of the Greater Toronto Area’s transit ridership. She joined the TTC in 2000 as Director of Employee Relations and later became Senior Director of Human Resources. She gained invaluable operations and service delivery experience, through a secondment to the position of Superintendent of Bloor-Danforth Subway. In 2010, Kirsten left the TTC and joined the Ontario Ministry of Labour where she was Deputy Director of Dispute Resolution Services and later Acting Director of Dispute Resolution Services.  Kirsten returned to the TTC in 2013 to service delivery. She has held the positions of Senior Manager of Wheel Trans, Head of Bus Transportation, Deputy Chief Service Officer and Chief Customer Officer.

Kirsten is a long-term member of the WTS Toronto Area Chapter including serving as the WTS Northeast Region Council representation for the Chapter. Kirsten holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor.

VICE PRESIDENT

maya caron (deloitte) 

Image

Maya Caron brings over 20 years of leadership across diverse teams of strategy, policy, engineering, and environmental professionals. She is currently Deloitte’s Sustainable Transport Lead, focused on transportation policy, creating a sustainable transport system, scaling and developing clean fuel partnerships, developing and implementing organizational change in all stages of maturity, and developing partnerships in all elements of this work. Maya also served with MTO’s provincial policy office and spent 15 years leading environmental assessment with Stantec.

Maya has been an active member of WTS Toronto for over 10 years, and has served in many roles including as co-chair of the 2025 WTS International Conference in Toronto, programs chair, membership lead. She has been a board director since 2023 and is the Toronto Chapter’s representative on the WTS Northeast Regional Council. Maya is a transit advocate and loves riding her bike to zip through the city traffic. She lives in Bloor West Village with her partner, two boys, and a dog, Benji.

TREASURER

Saloni shah (hdr) 

Image

Saloni Shah, is a Transportation Advisory Lead and Principal Consultant at HDR. In her role, she helps the public sector in prioritization, development and delivery of capital project portfolios that drive sustainable value for the communities that we live and work in. Saloni is passionate about transportation and transit planning and its lasting impact on the communities. She connects transportation planning with her pro bono consulting work in helping non-profits with revenue of under $2 million to develop corporate governance, earned income, and market strategies to become self-sustaining. Saloni is also a member of HDR’s inclusion and diversity council, and a champion of the Girls Action Foundation, which presents future leaders of Canada. Saloni has been an active member of WTS for many years. She was previously Co-Chair of the Mentorship Committee for our Chapter and currently serves on the board as Treasurer. 

SECRETARY

Eva barnard (metrolinx) 

Image

Eva Barnard is a licensed Professional Engineer and Project Management Professional with 10 years of experience in the private and public sectors. She has held key roles in project management, technical advisory and project controls on multiple rail and transit projects across Ontario. Projects include light rail transit, GO and VIA station renovations, and grade crossing safety assessments. Currently, Eva holds the role of Acting Senior Manager, GO Expansion Sponsor for the Union Station Rail Corridor at Metrolinx. 

She is passionate about creating welcoming spaces for others through her volunteer work with organizations such as WTS and WTS CEF. In her free time, she enjoys boxing, rock climbing ,hiking and camping.

DIRECTOR

maria doyle (metrolinx)

Image

Maria Doyle has several years of demonstrated passion and leadership in thinking forward and teamwork throughout the lifecycle of complex transit projects. Her experience includes transportation planning, property acquisitions, project delivery and risk management in both public and private sectors. 

Maria is currently the Director, Real Estate Property Management in the Development team at Metrolinx. Previously she worked as Senior Manager of Metrolinx Property Acquisitions for the SSE and YNSE projects, and she has acted in senior capacity roles on LRT and BRT planning projects. Prior to joining Metrolinx, Maria worked for the City of Toronto as a Senior Project Manager in the Transit Expansion Office, and as a Senior Transportation Planner in Transportation Planning.

Maria holds a professional degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and holds a previous undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Athabasca University. She is a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) and a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners (MCIP). Maria has been a member of the WTS Toronto Area Chapter since its inception and has previously served as Chair of the Scholarship Committee and Co-chair of the Programming Committee at different times.

DIRECTOR

tara erwin (HDR)

Image

Tara Erwin is a Vice President at HDR where she is the Transportation Manager responsible for leading the transportation market operations in Canada. For two decades she has implemented her servant style leadership to establish a people focused culture of collaboration that has produced forward thinking solutions to transportation challenges throughout the Greater Toronto Area. A longtime supporter of WTS, Tara has fulfilled the role of sponsor, mentor, presenter, and facilitator for the Toronto Area Chapter to help open industry doors and to take accountable action towards progress.

A driven mom who is the poster child for the “sandwich generation,” she passionately coaches others on how to manage a fruitful career while balancing your “life” needs and making the most of your 24hour day. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Applied Science both from the University of Waterloo.

DIRECTOR

rebecca farrugia (ghd)

Image

Rebecca Farrugia is an Engineering Manager for the Engineering Design Organization at GHD. She dedicated
Professional Engineer and Project Management Professional with over 19 years of experience who thrives in technically focused environments of engineers, designers, and technologists and contributes to a transportation and civil design community through demonstrated technical delivery excellence. She has held various roles including project manager, project director and lead engineer for a variety of bridge and culvert design and rehabilitation assignments with responsibility for assessing repair/replacement strategies, for clients including MTO, 407 Express Toll Route and many municipalities.

Rebecca is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity and involved in the broader transportation
community. She was the co-chair for the communications committee for WTS Toronto Area Chapter,
scholarship committee member and a mentor in the WTS Toronto mentorship program. Rebecca is also
the vice-chair for the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Workforce Development Council and
Vice-President of the Scholarship Committee for the TAC Foundation.

DIRECTOR

linda mCkenzie (jacobs) 

Image

Linda McKenzie is a Manager of Projects/ People Manager/Subject Matter Expert for Transit Rail Vehicles at Jacobs, with 26 years of experience, including 16 years in Transportation and an additional 10 years as an electrical hardware design engineer. Linda has held various roles including business operations, resource management, project management, lead for both rail vehicle systems integration and design. Linda’s technical expertise specializes in electrical architecture and subsystems, including automatic and manual train controls. Her experience covers the entire lifecycle of a rail systems project, previously with the original equipment manufacturer and now as a consultant to transit agencies. She has experience carrying out activities for business case developments, procurement bids, risk management, resource/ task budgeting, project governance, requirements management/traceability, design reviews, pre-production and manufacturing, testing and commissioning and project close out. Linda has embarked on two international assignments to South Africa and China. Always seeking out her next professional/life adventure, she welcomes the opportunity to broaden her network and share her professional experiences.

DIRECTOR

Larisse nana kouadjo (egis) 

Image

Larisse Nana Kouadjo is Vice President of Major Projects Pursuits at Egis Canada, where she drives the company's business development strategy and secures key partnerships for major infrastructure projects. She leads strategic pursuits across multiple sectors, including rail and transit, roads, highways, and large-scale civil works. Larisse effectively manages client relationships and strategic alliances, positioning Egis competitively for major project bids.

With over 20 years of global experience, Larisse has extensive expertise in leadership, people management, program management, and project delivery. She is highly skilled in systems engineering, systems integration, and safety assurance, particularly within rail and transit infrastructure projects. Currently, she focuses on strategic growth initiatives involving alternative delivery methods—particularly progressive design-build contracts—while fostering strong relationships with clients and industry partners.

Beyond her professional role, Larisse is passionate about sustainable infrastructure and is an advocate for diversity in engineering. She actively supports initiatives dedicated to empowering underrepresented groups and remains committed to mentorship and community engagement as key drivers of positive industry change.

DIRECTOR

katie pelly (Ellisdon)

Image

Katie Pelly is a Construction Manager with EllisDon Civil, and is currently the Acting Design-Build Project Director on a large P3 Design-Build transportation project. She holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Queen's University, and has 17 years of construction management experience with EllisDon, having taken on a range of roles and responsibilities including leadership, design management and coordination roles on IO, Metrolinx, MTO, TTC and YRRTC projects. Katie has also led various transit P3 Design-Build pursuits, helping to manage and facilitate the direction of EllisDon’s Civil division.  

As an experienced Construction Manager, with a strong background in commercial management and experience developing and implementing processes across multidisciplinary teams, Katie is responsible for cost control, subcontractor management, schedule control, client relations and change management. Katie's approach begins with gaining a strong understanding of the contractual and technical requirements and then setting the overall project goals and direction for the team. Katie’s career objectives are to continue effectively leading large teams through the design and construction of meaningful projects.  

Katie has been involved in the WTS Toronto Area Chapter from the early days, and has filled the roles of Communications Co-chair, and Programs Co-chair. She is excited to join the Board to continue to support meaningful opportunities for women to create connections. She is passionate about promoting and supporting women, and she enjoys travelling with her husband and two young kids.