On Wednesday, October 15, the WTS-Boston Programs Committee will continue the Fall 2025 luncheon series with "Navigating Municipal Transportation", moderated by Cassandra Gascon (MassDOT) and featuring Julia Campbell (City of Boston), Brooke McKenna (City of Cambridge), Lisa Chandler (City of Beverly), and Brad Rawson (City of Somerville). Join us as our panel discussion brings four experienced, municipal servants together to offer perspective on the current transportation landscape, consultant collaboration, and leadership at the municipal level.
Registration for this event is now open, and will close on Monday, October 6th or earlier if the venue reaches capacity. This event is Non-Refundable, and no shows will be billed. When registering, please note Member pricing is for Individual WTS Memberships, not Company Sponsors.
Moderator
Cassandra Gascon is the Acting Chief Administrative Officer of MassDOT’s Highway Division. In her role, she is responsible for the operations of a 2,500-employee division. This includes overseeing activities such as budgeting, hiring, process improvements, and workforce development. Cassandra also oversees the Community Grants Group, which works closely with municipal officials to fund various transportation investments. Cassandra has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Geography and Urban Planning from Binghamton University in New York.
Panelists
Julia Campbell is Boston's Deputy Chief of Streets for Infrastructure and Design and acts as the City Engineer. Within the Streets Cabinet, her team is responsible for designing and constructing capital improvements and maintenance for sidewalks, roads, bridges, and footpaths in the City of Boston. Julia joined Boston in 2023 after about a decade of public service in transportation in Los Angeles. Her experience spans both policy and implementation across the fields of planning, engineering, and governance. She has led large and small infrastructure projects focused on safety and multi-modal travel, as well as supportive programs and legislation. Julia received her civil engineering degree from UC Berkeley and practiced with a focus on green infrastructure before receiving her graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA. She holds a professional engineering license and enjoys her role as a translator between planning and engineering.
Brooke McKenna is the Transportation Commissioner in the City of Cambridge, MA. In this role, Brooke oversees the Cambridge Department of Transportation and is responsible for ensuring the safety and health of the Cambridge community by creating and sustaining a high quality street and parking system that supports a range of transportation options for all those who live, work, travel, and park in Cambridge. The Department is responsible for all aspects of the operation of the street network, including traffic signals, signs and markings, street design, curb regulation, parking enforcement, the city’s resident permit parking program, and transportation planning.
During her more than 20 years of experience in Transportation, Brooke has worked in a variety of policy and operational roles at the New York City Department of Transportation and the US DOT Volpe Center before joining the City of Cambridge in 2015. Brooke has an MBA and a Master’s in Information Systems from Boston University and a BA from Tufts University.
Lisa Chandler is the City Engineer for the City of Beverly, MA. In this role, Lisa oversees a staff of thirteen who tend to the daily operations of the City in a whole manner of ways. Engineering is a division of the Department of Public Services. The Department is responsible for all aspects of the daily operations of the City including trash and recycling, parking enforcement, cemetery services, street paving, utility design and construction, utility permitting and billing, and so much more. If you can see it (and even if you can't!) chances are pretty good, the Engineering Department is responsible for it.
During her more than 20 years of experience in engineering, Lisa was previously in the private consulting world and worked on many large profile transportation and site development projects across New England, including the rental car facility at Logan Airport and the multi-modal train station in North Kingstown, Rhode Island prior to joining the City of Beverly in 2017. Lisa has a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University.
Brad Rawson serves the City of Somerville as Director of Mobility in the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development. His team is responsible for community engagement, policy planning, street design, infrastructure finance, project implementation and program administration to advance Somerville’s safety, equity and climate commitments.
Under Brad’s leadership, the City’s Mobility Division has delivered Somerville’s first dedicated bus lanes, transit signal priority solutions, and protected bicycle facilities. The team prepared Somerville’s Vision Zero Action Plan and has developed and scaled a physical traffic calming program citywide. The Mobility Division leads the City’s coordination with state and regional partners including MassDOT, MBTA and the Boston Region MPO, collaborating to mitigate the harms of the highway-building era and strengthen mass transit. The City’s efforts to deliver the long-planned MBTA Green Line Extension light rail project have been coordinated and executed through Brad’s office. Additionally, the team is responsible for robust land use planning, private development permitting and transportation demand management portfolio.
Brad is a community planner by training, with more than twenty years of public service (of which fifteen have been in Somerville). His work in Somerville has included subject-matter focus on small business development, land use planning, parks and urban forestry. Brad is a proud Somerville resident.
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