Paula Hammond

Paula Hammond is the National Transportation Market Leader for WSP USA, in Seattle, WA. Paula is responsible for representing the company as an industry leader in the emerging transportation practice areas of: funding and finance, organizational leadership, transportation resilience, performance management and asset management, pricing and managed lanes, and transportation system operations. Paula dedicated her 34-year public service career to improving transportation systems in Washington state, and served as WA Secretary of Transportation from 2007-2013. She has been a national figure on transportation issues, with leadership on numerous AASHTO committees, TRB Executive Board, ARTBA Board of Trustees and WTS International Board of Directors. Ms. Hammond is a graduate of Oregon State University (OSU) with a B.S. degree in civil engineering. She is a registered professional engineer in the State of Washington.

Paula has been a member of the WTS Puget Sound Chapter for over 20 years. While at WSDOT, she was instrumental in supporting the Chapter’s technical programs on state DOT services and projects, and participates in the mentorship of WTS members and students. She has been a member of the WTS International Board since 2014, and was inducted as Board Vice-Chair in May, 2018. As a Board member, Paula has led the Region Council Liaison committee, and served as the Northwest Region Council Board Liaison. She has actively supported the Board’s work to establish an updated strategic direction for the organization, and looks forward to successful efforts to grow WTS membership and partnerships within the industry to continue to advance women in transportation leadership.

Jannet Walker-Ford

Jannet Walker-Ford is an executive for AECOM, the world’s premiere infrastructure firm. She was recently appointed as the Senior Vice President for Transportation Strategy, Growth & Key Accounts for the Design and Consulting Services Americas (DCSA) where she is responsible for driving an integrated transportation business line strategy for growth and innovation across all market sectors. Prior to this role, Walker-Ford served as Cubic Corporation’s Vice President of Government Affairs and as the Vice President and General Manager for the Eastern Region of the Americas with P/L and delivery responsibilities.  Walker-Ford has more than two decades of diverse public and private sector and experience and previously held senior leadership roles with Parsons Corporation, CH2M Hill (now Jacobs) and Booz Allen Hamilton. During her time in the public sector, she served as the Metropolitan Area Rapid Transit Authority’s (MARTA) Deputy General Manager/Deputy CEO and as the Assistant General Manager & Chief Information Officer where she led the Breeze Card Program, the first ever regional all smart card fare payment system in the United States

Just this year, Walker-Ford was elected Chair of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Foundation and as the Vice Chair of WTS International Board and recognized as the National Women of Color’s STEM Conference as a Technology All Star, the 2019 Transportation Diversity Council (TDC) – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Honoree for Service to the Transportation Industry, by the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials’ Women Who Move the Nation and by the Miami Women Who Rock for National Business Achievement. She has also received past recognitions from the Technology Association of Georgia  as the Women in Technology’s Woman of the Year, the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) as the  Outstanding MBA of the Year, National Women of Color’s STEM Conference for the Professional Achievement Technology Award - Industry Category and Philadelphia's Women of Substance and Style.

Walker-Ford serves on numerous boards including the Jacksonville University Board of Trustees, WTS International Board, WTS Foundation as Vice Chair, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), American Public Transportation Foundation as Chair, Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville as Chair and ENO Transportation Advisory Board.

Walker-Ford received her bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Memphis and a Master of Science degree in Business Administration from Central Michigan University, and has completed significant coursework toward her doctorate in Information Systems at Nova Southeastern University.

Walker-Ford strives to inspire young girls, women and minority professionals to pursue roles in STEM and transportation-related fields.

Maggie Walsh

Maggie Walsh is Vice President and Strategic Clients and Pursuits Leader at HDR, a leading consulting company and a proud recipient of the Pittsburgh employer of the year award. She leads teams in securing new work by providing guidance, oversight and support for highly visible and game changing project pursuits. She keeps her focus on strategic client development programs across market sectors including transit, freight rail, highways, bridges, aviation and maritime resulting in transformative growth for HDR employees.

Maggie has been an active member and supporter of WTS for over 20 years. Today, she serves as Chair on the International Board. In this role, Maggie oversees the organization’s activities promoting personal and professionaldevelopment for WTS members, both within the organization and throughout the transportation industry, and continuously collaborates with the Board to achieve WTS’s 2021 strategic plan. Having served as Board Liaison to the Central Region Council, President of the Chicago Chapter and current member of their advisory board, Maggie also has a strong connection to Chapter level activities and has a solid understanding of WTS International’s needs.

Danielle Smith

Danielle Smith is the Central Region Director for Triunity, Inc. and is based out of the Denver headquarter office.  Danielle oversees the operations, business development and project management of the engineering, construction management and program management teams that provide services in all aspect of transportation. Danielle has over 25 years of delivering transportation projects in Colorado and was involved in the nationally recognized multi- modal project T-REX and the FasTracks project. Danielle’s leadership role as a program manager on FasTracks included experience of project prioritization, stakeholder coordination, highway and light rail design oversight, utility coordination, project controls, cost estimating, and project coordination. She has excellent communication and the ability to lead teams to implement projects and bring them to completion.

She has been active in the WTS Colorado Chapter since 1997, serving in roles as Secretary and President. She was WTS Colorado Member of the Year in 2016. She was named the Council Chair for the pilot Northwest Regional Council in 2014 and has severed on the International Advisory Board. Danielle served as Treasurer for the International Board in 2018 to 2020.  She will serve as Secretary of the International Board and is looking forward to continuing to serve and promote the WTS mission.

Susan Martinovich

Susan serves as the Director of the Transportation Business Group’s North American Highway/Bridge business at CH2M HILL. She is responsible for establishing the North America highway/bridge strategy; stewarding federal, state, county, municipal, and private client relationships; identifying/analyzing market trends; and fostering the development of new technologies and services to meet clients’ needs. She is nationally recognized as an expert in surface transportation development and a strong advocate for safety initiatives to reduce fatalities, alternative project delivery methods, and transportation funding mechanisms to ensure continued investment in the nation’s infrastructure.

Prior to joining CH2MHILL she was with the Nevada Department of Transportation for 28 years. Where in her last 6 served as the NDOT Director. With her NDOT team she formed the Department into a responsive and customer friendly agency through broader communications strategies both within and externally to give, receive and follow-up with information, and to improve transparency and show accountability to the Nevada Governor, Legislature and public. Her other passion areas are reducing fatalities, implementing research findings to new technology, project delivery efficiency, opening communication, and bringing flexibility to new legislation and policies to embrace the differences of states. While at the Nevada DOT she initiated many changes to enhance NDOT in the state and country; including innovative contracting methods, implementing studies for new transportation financing, leadership training for middle management and new employees, and partnering with contractors and project stakeholders.

Susan is actively involved and recognized in many national transportation organizations: AASHTO (American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials), TRB (Transportation Research Board), and WTS (Women’s Transportation Seminar). She has been part of the leadership of committees on research, safety, and management training. She is past president of AASHTO, the first woman to hold the position. She was also on the TRB Executive Board. She has participated in the development of national policy that addresses states’ needs and issues, and presented before Congress on behalf of states on such issues.

Susan is the proud mother of two sons. One who followed her footsteps in Engineering and the other a US Marine now pursuing a career in fire-fighting.